The iconic clock tower on East Ninth Street was constructed in the fall of 1926 with approximately $4,200 raised by the Woman’s Club of Hopkinsville. The red and white tower is 65 feet tall and sits atop the town’s former Central Fire Station.
The two-story fire station, with living quarters upstairs for firefighters, was constructed in 1924 to replace Hopkinsville’s previous fire station, which stood at the same location from 1905 to 1924. That building, with three stories and an 85-foot clock tower, was destroyed by a fire believed to have started in the station’s attic.
In 1964, the Hopkinsville Fire Department left the station on Ninth Street for a new main station on First Street at Riverfront Drive.
The Ninth Street building later became privately owned and was left to Centre College as a bequest from the estate of Golladay LaMotte, of Hopkinsville. The college sold the former fire station back to the community in 1997. Six years later, a $200,000 federal transportation grant was awarded to begin restoration of the building’s main floor.
Today the building is the Woody Winfree Fire and Transportation Museum. It is operated by the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County. In fact, for the past several months, the old fire station has been the main base of operations for museum employees while the Pennyroyal Area Museum across the street is being renovated in preparation for new exhibits.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
