Johannesburg's first fire station was completed on this site in 1906. The thirty-five metre tower was used as a lookout for spotting fires before the advent of telecommunications and also for drying out fire hoses which were hung in the tower. When the station was rebuilt in the 1980s, only the watchtower was kept. It is Johannesburg's only remaining firetower and the highest of a group of towers in the area.

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After the initial ceramic plaque was damaged with a bullet hole, it was replaced by a stone plaque.