The city of Humeston was platted in 1872 and incorporated in 1881 with 302 inhabitants.
A special election was held in 1895 to consider issuing $2,500 in bonds to purchase a lot and build a town hall, jail and fire station. The propositon passed and construction was completed the next year.
On May 19, 1903, a fire believed to have been started by lightning completely destroyed the Humeston Normal College.
Humeston's big blaze of 1908 saw a loss of $25,000 worth of property, with only $15,000 covered by insurance. It was considered the most expensive fire to date in the town's history.
In 1915, the new city waterworks equipment got its first workout by Fire Chief J.L. Yates and crew, on a roof fire at the John Bowman home.
In 1948, a new siren was put atop the town hall. It was much larger than the old one and would be more easily heard as a fire alarm at night. The siren is still used today for tornado warnings and other emergencies.
The present fire station was built from money raised during the 1972 Humeston Centennial.
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