Hastings' first city hall and fire station were housed in a frame building at Third and Denver. In 1889 a large brick fire station and city hall was erected here at a cost of $4,600.

The first floor was the engine house, a large room which housed a fire wagon and a ladder wagon. Stables for the fire horses were at the rear, and city council chambers occupied the second floor. The city jail was at the rear on the ground floor. A bell mounted in a rooftop tower called volunteers to fight fires. Until 1919, when the first pumper truck was purchased, firemen relied on hand pumps and bucket brigades to fight fires, like they used when much of downtown Hastings burned in 1879.

From 1905 until 1930 the city scale house was located south of the fire station. During the 1920s firemen operated the scale for the city. The fire station was covered with stucco in the 1920s.

The police department moved from 701 W. First into a new building attached to the south side of the fire station in 1930. In 1934 the city offices were moved to Second and Hastings, and in 1935, with the help of WPA labor, the old building was completely remodeled into a modern fire station. The police department moved to Second and Minnesota in 1957. The exterior of the building changed little after 1935. In 1987, after construction of a new fire station on North Hastings Avenue, the old building was demolished.