Kinston Former Firehouses
Part I - Published in 2006
See more photos
In early
1895, a pair of devastating fires sparked an improvement in
Kinston's firefighting forces. The river city purchased a Silsby
steam engine and 2,000 feet of hose for its volunteer firefighters.
Called Caswell No. 1, the steamer and a homebuilt hose
reel were stored in a newly constructed engine house on the county
courthouse lot. Both pieces of apparatus were hand-drawn at first,
though two horses and a hose wagon were added the next year.
In 1897, Kinston's first water main was installed. In 1898, a
hand-pulled hook
and ladder wagon was purchased and staffed by members of the black
community. In 1904, a new fire department was organized. Named
Caswell Fire Company No. 1, their initial equipment consisted of
three horses and two wagons. In 1908, a second fire company was
formed to supplement the Caswell Company. The East Kinston Hose Reel Company
operated a hand-pulled reel.
An electric telegraph fire alarm system with 25 boxes was installed
in 1913; the first motorized piece of fire apparatus, a 750 GPM
pumper, was purchased in 1918. Ten years later, the first full-time
fire chief was hired.
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Old Station 1
118 South Queen Street
Built 1895 / Closed 1937
Presently museum and offices
Kinston's first fire station and first brick building was
completed in 1895 on South Queen Street.
By 1901, the station also served as City Hall. The second
floor housed the town offices and hose and bell tower had been
added in the rear with a jail underneath.
By 1904, the station housed the Caswell Fire Company No. 1
after its formation that year.
By 1908, a single-story
room beside the building had been added as sleeping quarters
for firemen.
In 1937, both the fire department and the town offices relocated
to 106 West King Street.
Continuously used since 1895 and listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, the building presently houses a
fire museum downstairs and government offices upstairs
Seven fire hydrants from different time periods are
displayed outside the building.
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Old Station 1
106-110
West King Street
Opened 1937 / Closed 1962
Presently offices
In 1937, both Station 1 and City Hall relocated to 106 West King Street.
The fire department occupied the far right side of the
building.
By 1948, the fire alarm system was housed in the jail
building behind City Hall.
In 1962, both Station 1 and City Hall relocated to 203 East King
Street. The new City Hall was dedicated on October 18, 1962.
The 10,920 square-foot former municipal building presently serves as office
space.
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Old Station 2
104 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
Built after 1930 / Closed 1993
Presently career center
In 1916, the East Kinston Hose Reel Company relocated from
the 700 block of East Caswell Street to 104
North Tiffany Street.
After 1930, their two-story wooden station was replaced by a
single-story brick building at the same location. After
1948, the building was expanded to include sleeping
quarters in the rear.
In later decades, the station also housed an engine and
tanker that responded to calls in the county. The tanker was housed
in an adjoining metal shed.
In 1993, Station 2's 1979 American LaFrance pumper
overturned on South Queen Street.
As the pumper was the last piece of apparatus that could fit
inside the building, Station 2 was closed the same day.
The building is presently used as a career center.
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Old Station
3
1916 West Vernon Avenue
Built 1961 / Closed 1998
Presently car stereo shop
Two identical fire stations were opened in 1961, Station 3
at 1916 West Vernon Avenue and Station 4 at 200 North Plaza
Avenue. Both were single-story brick structures.
Station 3 replaced a single-story structure at 708 North
Heritage Street that was built in [1945] and later replaced by a
parking lot.
In 1998, a new Station 3 opened at 2207 Hull Road in a
facility built by firefighters. The 3,117 square-foot former station is presently
a car stereo shop.
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Central Fire
Station
Kinston's Central Fire Station at 203 East King Street, built in
1962 along with the adjacent City Hall building, is slated for
replacement in coming years. Lot locations under consideration
include near Grainger Stadium off East Vernon Avenue. Central
Fire Station is two-story facility with four apparatus bays facing
East King Street and a fifth apparatus bay facing the rear. The building
also houses the fire department's administrative offices.
Map
References
Kinston Fire Department
Kinston-Lenoir Public Library
A book about the Kinston Fire Department was published in 1981.
Search the Library Catalog for keywords "Kinston Fire"
Lenoir County IMS
Building information is available for
most parcels of land in Lenoir County, including square footage and
a sketch of the structure.
Sanborn Fire
Insurance Maps via NC LIVE
Kinston insurance maps from 1896, 1901, 1908, 1914, 1925,
1930, and 1948 are available online. Access requires password available from your local library. After
logging into NC LIVE, click Browse Resources and select Maps.
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The Series
Charlotte
Durham
Fayetteville
Goldsboro
Greensboro
High Point
Kinston
New Bern
Raleigh
Rocky Mount / Wilson
Wilmington
Winston-Salem
Note
A version of this article was published on
FireNews.net on January 23, 2006. |
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Part II - Updated in 2016
See more photos
Relocated Fire Stations
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Old Station 1
203 E. King Street
1962 to 2008
In 2008,
a new Station 1 opened at 421 E. Vernon Avenue. The 16,000 square-foot
structure included six drive-through apparatus bays. The fire station was
previously housed with the police department in a building adjoining City
Hall. The fire department's section of the structure was
subsequently remodeled, including the removal of the front-facing
apparatus doors.
Photographed in May 2012
Old Station 3
2207 Hull Road
1998 to
2012
This was a two-section building located on a 0.8 acre parcel, and
largely built by fire department personnel. Firefighters went to the site
and worked on the structure during their shifts. They constructed about
eighty-five percent of the building, with specialty contractors completing
the rest.
In the summer of 2012, Station 3 was relocated to a new facility at 1247 Hill Farm Road.
This was one of two identical 5,900 square-foot structures. Each had two
drive-through bays, priva203te sleeping quarters for twelve people, two
offices, and a combination training room and eat-in kitchen. Plus
associated equipment and storage rooms.
The buildings were designed by
Davis Kane Architects. They were funded with $2.8 in USDA Rural
Development loans and grants, to replacing the older stations, and provide
better coverage for the Global TransPark via the new Station 2 and the
growing Highway 70 West Industrial Park via the new Station 3.
The Hull Road fire station has remained vacant, and was for sale as of
January 2016.
Photographed in May 2012
Old Station 4
202 Plaza Boulevard
1961 to 2012
This one-story structure had 3,257 total square-feet
on a 0.74 acre parcel. In the summer of 2012, a new Station 2 opened at
3428 Carey Road. The personnel and apparatus from relocated to the new
Carey Road fire station. The Plaza Boulevard fire station was purchased by
a security company, for use as a storage and support facility.
Photographed in May 2012
Original Station 3
1942 to 1945
Knott's Warehouse
Northwest
corner of East Washington and North McLewean streets, note Sanborn Fire
Insurance Maps
The News & Observer on July 26, 1942, reported
that Kinston's third fire station was a reality on that day. Residents in
the north suburbs had sought the station for more than a decade. The
station was located in Knott's warehouse and was manned by firefighters
Jesse Conway and William Hoover. It had "one large truck and booster truck
and chemical facilities." The station would protect the northern third of
the city, where "many attractive residences" were located. Owners of the
warehouse donated the building's use until "conditions permit building a
fire station" after the war.
On Thursday, July 12, 1945, the
Kinston Fire Department held a house-warming party for a new Station 3 on
Heritage Street. Firemen hosted city officials and a few guests with a
fish stew. Auxiliary Fire Chief Claude Chamberlain led the event. The
Kinston Auxiliary Fire Department had some 30 volunteers “trained in
wartime emergency firefighting and rescue work.” It was noted that the
squad would continue as a “permanent peacetime unit.” Source: News &
Observer, July 19, 1945,
Renovated
Former Fire Stations
Old Station 3 at 1916 West Vernon Avenue
has been extensively renovated and largely rebuilt as a drive-through
credit union. The building is now numbered 1910 West Vernon Avenue. The
building formerly housed a car stereo shop.
Apparatus
Accident in 1993
These photos accompanies the history of
old Station 2 as listed above: "In 1993, Station 2's 1979 American LaFrance pumper
overturned on South Queen Street.
As the pumper was the last piece of apparatus that could fit
inside the building, Station 2 was closed the same day."
Map
Sources
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