{"id":4204,"date":"2019-02-11T20:37:50","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T01:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/?p=4204"},"modified":"2019-02-12T09:48:24","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T14:48:24","slug":"salem-fire-department-1893","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/salem-fire-department-1893\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiftieth Anniversary of the Salem Fire Department &#8211; 1893"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a vintage booklet about the Salem Fire Department, printed for the occasion of their fiftieth anniversary, celebrated on September 16, 1893.<\/p>\n<p>The twenty-page booklet\u00a0includes a history of the department going back to the Moravian settlement of 1766, and first fire protection laws in 1773.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s presented courtesy of Duke University&#8217;s David M. Rubenstein Rare Book &amp; Manuscript Library, scanned from their collection.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/docs\/1893-salem-fire-department.pdf\">View the booklet<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 19MB)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-11-salem.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Department Milestones<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These milestones are noted in the booklet:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1766 &#8211; Settlement of Salem started.<\/li>\n<li>1773 &#8211; First regulations related to preventing fires, by sweeping chimneys.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1778 &#8211; First &#8220;system of water works.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>1781 &#8211; First recorded fire.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1785 &#8211; First fire engines delivered, two hand engines from Europe.<\/li>\n<li>1785 &#8211; Fire buckets ordered by town, with each house required to have at least one.<\/li>\n<li>1828 &#8211; Pump added to water system. Water was moved into the town&#8217;s reservoir, which fed via &#8220;earthen pipes&#8221; some ten or twelve cisterns around town. Each cistern had a &#8220;common wood pump&#8221; with a brass connection for hose, for supplying the fire engine.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1832 &#8211; Newer hand engine delivered from Philadelphia, 200 GPM capacity, built by Merrick &amp; Agnew. Also equipped with two-inch hose, first fire hose for town.<\/li>\n<li>1843 &#8211; State law exempts firemen from militia duty. It&#8217;s thought that this led to the old Salem Military Company being disbanded, and the first &#8220;organized fire company&#8221; created.<\/li>\n<li>1843 &#8211; Salem Vigilant Fire Company organized.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1845 &#8211; First fire for Vigilant Fire Company, Siewer&#8217;s Cabinet Shop.<\/li>\n<li>1853 &#8211; Second fire for Vigilant Fire Company, outbuilding near &#8220;dwelling house.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>1854 &#8211; First uniforms for Vigilant Fire Company.<\/li>\n<li>1855 &#8211; Four-wheel hose carriage added. Used for about 30 years.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1855c &#8211; Engine house moved from original location on Salem Square to Academy Street, just west of Tar Branch.<\/li>\n<li>1858 &#8211; Newer hand engine purchased, from Baltimore. Named &#8220;the Watchman.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>1859 &#8211; Larger 1785 hand engine retired.<\/li>\n<li>1861 &#8211; Vigilant Fire Company disbanded, after state law no longer exempted firemen from militia duty. They had &#8220;done duty at four fires&#8221; over 18 years.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1864 &#8211; First dwelling house destroyed by fire. Most of the former firemen were in the army, and citizens took their places at the engine, and in a bucket brigade.<\/li>\n<li>1866 &#8211; Fire company reorganized after the end of the war.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1868 &#8211; Fire company adopted new by-laws and constitution, and chartered as Rough and Ready Fire Company.<\/li>\n<li>1868 &#8211; Total fire alarms from 1766 to 1868 is nine.<\/li>\n<li>1871 &#8211; First fire for Rough and Ready Fire Company, a smokehouse.<\/li>\n<li>1874c &#8211; Engine house moved to Main Street.<\/li>\n<li>1884 &#8211; Button hand engine purchased.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1886 &#8211; Hand engine exchanged for Button steam engine.<\/li>\n<li>1886 &#8211; New engine house.<\/li>\n<li>1893 &#8211; Hose wagon added, built by captain of the department.<\/li>\n<li>1893 &#8211; Electric fire alarm system added.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1893 &#8211; Total fire alarms from 1868 to 1893 is 24, with grand total of 33 fire alarms since settlement of town in 1766.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>More Information<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>See also related content, including Mike&#8217;s modern photos of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/legeros\/sets\/72157636848524094\/\" class=\"broken_link\">Salem&#8217;s old fire engines<\/a> and a history of <a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/history\/stations\/winston-salem\/\">old Winston and Salem fire stations<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4213\" src=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018-02-12-salem.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018-02-12-salem.jpg 800w, https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018-02-12-salem-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018-02-12-salem-730x486.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"on\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fsalem-fire-department-1893%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"4204\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Fiftieth Anniversary of the Salem Fire Department - 1893\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fsalem-fire-department-1893%2F&text=Fiftieth+Anniversary+of+the+Salem+Fire+Department+%26%238211%3B+1893\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"4204\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Fiftieth Anniversary of the Salem Fire Department - 1893\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Pinterest\" href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fsalem-fire-department-1893%2F&description=Fiftieth+Anniversary+of+the+Salem+Fire+Department+%26%238211%3B+1893\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url={url}&description={title}\" data-nid=\"7\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"4204\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Fiftieth Anniversary of the Salem Fire Department - 1893\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-pinterest\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a vintage booklet about the Salem Fire Department, printed for the occasion of their fiftieth anniversary, celebrated on September 16, 1893. The twenty-page booklet\u00a0includes a history of the department going back to the Moravian settlement of 1766, and first fire protection laws in 1773. It&#8217;s presented courtesy of Duke University&#8217;s David M. Rubenstein Rare &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/salem-fire-department-1893\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;Fiftieth Anniversary of the Salem Fire Department &#8211; 1893&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"on\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fsalem-fire-department-1893%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"4204\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Fiftieth Anniversary of the Salem Fire Department - 1893\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fsalem-fire-department-1893%2F&text=Fiftieth+Anniversary+of+the+Salem+Fire+Department+%26%238211%3B+1893\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"4204\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Fiftieth Anniversary of the Salem Fire Department - 1893\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Pinterest\" href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fsalem-fire-department-1893%2F&description=Fiftieth+Anniversary+of+the+Salem+Fire+Department+%26%238211%3B+1893\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url={url}&description={title}\" data-nid=\"7\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"4204\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Fiftieth Anniversary of the Salem Fire Department - 1893\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-pinterest\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4204"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4219,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions\/4219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}