In the Trove Scotland archive I came across this photograph of 52 West Port, Edinburgh. The stare of the unknown passer-by and the ghost sign: FIRE STATION, left me wanting to find out more of the life and times of this building:
![Trove Scotland archive](http://12 January 1884, <em>North British Advertiser</em>: <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-117085" src="https://holeousia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/12-Jan-1884-North-British-Advertiser-Police-and-Fire-Station-for-West-Port-Edinburgh.jpg" alt="" width="1575" height="243" />){kind=link}
The archival description began:
and concluded:
The following timeline is anything but complete, but does reveal a wide-ranging narrative of the life and times of this “dour solid building”.
October 1878, Edinburgh Daily Review: Councillor Gordon, George Square Ward:
13 October 1883, Scotsman:
10 January 1884, Scotsman:
1894, Ordnance Survey map:
Falkirk Herald:
19 February 1916, Falkirk Herald:
25 May 1918, Death of David Brown Hay [Towers]:
8 November 1935, Edinburgh Evening News:
4 August 1941, Edinburgh Evening News:
21 February 1956, Edinburgh Evening News:
John Webster, Edinburgh Past and Present:
22 January 1989, Scotsman:
5 December 1994, Edinburgh Evening News:
3 August 2000, The Stage:
August 2001:
October 2025: Current occupant:
