Growth breeds service.

One of the primary functions of city government was to provide a variety of public services needed by a growing community; fire, police, health, recreation.

In the early days, a marshal helped keep the peace; everyone helped in case of fire. But as the town grew so did these public services. A volunteer fire department was organized in 1867 and a paid department in 1896. As the police force grew, it was housed in several quarters until a headquarters was built on Market Street in 1924. Police now work out of a modern new structure; firemen out of eight modern station houses.

The first free delivery of mail was established in 1888 with service out of an arcade on the square. It now requires not only the main post office but several branches and a large mail handling facility.