Near the end of the 19th century, the emergency requirements of the communities of Tivoli and Madalin were served by the F.S. Ormsbee Engine Company, the Johnston L. DePeyster Hose Company, and the J. Watts DePeyster Hook and Ladder Company. The three independent volunteer organizations met in various locations—sometimes in saloons—and stored their equipment where they could- including in a vacant room at Potts’ Opera House.  In 1898, Major General John Watts-DePeyster, a local philanthropist, author, military scholar, and innovative reorganizer of the New York City Police and Fire Departments—who also had significant property holdings in Manhattan—funded the building of the splendid “Watts DePeyster Fireman’s Hall” for use as a Village Hall, a lock up, and as a consolidated fire house for the two fire companies NOT named for his son, Johnston Livingston DePeyster, with whom he feuded bitterly.  That third company met in a purpose built structure across the street, paid for by the General’s son.