You can own a bit of Mundelein Fire history and help restore Engine 1. How you might ask? The Mundelein Fire department is making available to the public a model replica of its 1925 Stoughton engine. Proceeds from the purchase will help in the cost of restoring the original engine. If you would like to make a purchase while supplies last you may stop by Mundelein Fire Station 1, 1000 N. Midlothian between 8:00 am and 5:00pm, Monday thru Friday. Donations to underwrite the cost of restoring this historic fire engine are tax deductible and greatly appreciated.

Mundelein Fire Engine #1 History

In 1921 the Archdiocese of Chicago purchased property near Area (currently known as Mundelein), Illinois, for the purpose of establishing the first seminary for Catholic priests in the Midwest. The driving force, and creative inspiration behind the construction of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, was the progressive, energetic George Cardinal Mundelein.

In 1924 the Village fathers of Area decided that a new name for the town was in order, so the Village was renamed Mundelein. Later that year, on September 4, 1924, the community fire department was organized with John Dietz as chief. In gratitude for the honor, Cardinal Mundelein donated the new department a modern fire engine—a 1925 Stoughton (now affectionately dubbed “Old Number 1”).

Until then, the department’s only firefighting equipment was a hand-drawn hose cart and 200 feet of fire hose. The wise Cardinal knew that improved fire protection would better protect the huge investment the diocese was making at the seminary—a win/win scenario for both parties. He also knew that a vehicle this modern needed to be checked out by qualified professionals, so he mandated in the purchase contract that the vehicle was to be inspected and its pumps tested by the Chicago Fire Department. Pump testing was performed at Navy Pier.

The 1925 Stoughton was kept in service until 1945. In 1946 the vehicle was sold to James Church of Zeigler, Illinois, who then sold it to a man from Galatia, Illinois in 1970. In 1979 the Pelham Street Fire Co., of Fredericksburg, Virginia, a small group of private collectors and fire truck enthusiasts, obtained the truck from a collector in Lebanon, Tennessee. In 1980 the Pelham group contacted the Village seeking information to help them restore the truck. Their intention was to “restore it as closely as possible to its original condition.” Somewhere along the line their plans were sidetracked.

In 1993, after conversations with Jim Carew, Bill Killen of Bowie Maryland, a fire truck collector, made some phone calls and located what was left of the Pelham group. He was told, “the truck has to go. It’s yours if you can get here in three days. Otherwise, it’s going for scrap.” Bill and his nephew showed up that Saturday and rescued the truck and stored it in a barn for safekeeping.

In 1994, shortly after he retired, former Mundelein Fire Lieutenant Jim Carew received a phone call out of the blue. With the help of Father Tom Franzman, a Chicago priest who attended St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, and himself a fire truck enthusiast, Jim drove to Maryland and retrieved the truck. He knew that the truck should return home to the Village in grandeur some day.

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For 14 years the truck has been in Jim’s garage, patiently waiting for the call from the Village. On September 22, 2008 the call was made. The Village Board authorized the purchase of Old #1 for $11,000 and its restoration “as closely as possible to its original condition.” Jim Carew, with assistance from Father Franzman and many others, is performing the restoration.