Clay Fire history

Stewart bought the house and the Faulkner Springs Hospital was closed in 1968, it was a nursing home (or sanitarium) for the elderly and, for its day, a well-equipped hospital.

Except for the doctor’s abortive attempt to tear it down, the house sat vacant – a ghost of its past glory – until Joe Grissom purchased it in 1983.

When George McGlothin bought the old house at auction in 1989, it was a ghost of its former glory.

In 1990, the 1st burn tower in St Joseph County was built behind Clay Station 2 and is still used today as the Fire Ground Survival Course.

Read the original 1992 National Register of Historic Places application on the National Park Service website: Clay Faulkner Home.

In 2006, the clubhouse building (originally part of the Clay Township Park) was converted to a fire department classroom facility for the growing need of a training facility.

In 2007, Clay Fire built a Command Training Center which is designed to provide state-of-the art high fidelity virtual reality command simulation.

In the spring of 2009, the park behind Station 2 was fully transformed into fire department training grounds.

In 2010, with the merger of the Harris Township Fire Department, a central training facility was established.

As of 2018, they have had it open to the public as a historic attraction for 25 years.