The village of Highland Park's fire department was established in 1911. It was housed in the first municipal building at 20 Gerald Street, designed by Albert E. Williams and opened in 1911. Given Highland Park's rapid growth and industrialization in the 1910s and 1920s, the police and the municipal government moved to purpose-built buildings in 1917 and 1927, respectively. The first municipal building was expanded and altered several times until it became the headquarters of the Highland Park Fire Department (HPFD), established in 1917.