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Before their merger on
May 13, 1913,
the towns of Winston and Salem were protected by separate fire departments
each operating horse-drawn hose wagons and steam engines. Winston also had
a
horse-drawn hook and ladder truck. Both fire departments shared the
same electric-telegraph fire alarm system, and both responded to all alarms in either business district.
By 1917,
the Winston-Salem Fire Department consisted of 17 paid men in two
companies and 60 volunteers in four companies. Apparatus included two American LaFrance triple-combination
pumpers. By 1923, the fire
department was fully-paid. By the end of that decade, the fire
department was completely motorized.
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Old Station 2301 South Liberty Street |
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Old Station 4214 North Dunleith Avenue |
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Old Station 5450 East Devonshire Street |
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Old Station 2300 South Main Street |
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Old Station 22050 Griffith Road |
Photos courtesy Winston-Salem Fire
Department
Three early Winston-Salem fire stations have been demolished in recent decades. Old Station 1 at 117 West 8th Street was built before 1912 and served until 1976. The two-story station had a single double-width bay. Old Station 3 (left) at 1508 North Liberty Street opened in 1908 and served until 1964. The two-story, two-bay building was originally constructed as a combination fire station and farmer's market. After closing in 1964, it remained unoccupied until its demolition in 1971. Old Station 6 (right) at 1717 West Academy Street opened in 1925 and served until 1996. The single-story, single-bay station was offered free for anyone willing to move the 71 year-old building. With no takers, the 2,500 square-foot structure was demolished on May 16, 1996. The $1.3 million replacement facility was constructed on the same site.
Utilized a century before the Winston-Salem Fire Department was organized, Old Salem's Market and Fire House is the oldest engine house in North Carolina. Built in 1803, the single-story brick structure served as both the town market and as a storage facility for the town's two hand-powered fire engines. In 1856, the town's Board of Aldermen voted to remove the building from the square and it was relocated to the southwest corner of Main and Belews Street. The building, along with the original fire engines, was reconstructed in 1953 and presently serves as a historical display on the grounds of Old Salem.
The fire Winston fire company was organized in 1882 and used the town's first fire apparatus, a horse-drawn steamer delivered at the same time. Steamer Company No. 1 was incorporated by the state legislature in 1886. Winston's second fire company, Steamer Company No. 2, was organized in 1891. Two years later a hook and ladder company was formed. Additional volunteer fire companies were organized around the turn of the century to protect the town's black community. The first Salem fire company was organized in 1785. Upon delivery of two hand-powered pumps from Germany, one wheeled and one hand-carried, a fire-master and three assistants were appointed along with the necessary men to operate the engines. Salem's first bucket brigade was also formed at that time.
Several dates are cited for Salem's first fire company and fire department. Winston-Salem Fire Department, 1913-1992 states that the Salem Fire Department originated in 1772. The lettering over the apparatus bays at the old Salem town hall reads "ROUGH & READY FIRE CO. NO. 4" and "ORG'D 1784." The State magazine on December 25, 1948 cites the first fire company as forming in 1785 to operate the two hand engines that arrived on May 9. Salem's Vigilant Company of 1843 is cited in an unidentified newspaper article from the early twentieth-century. The article cites a brochure recounting a fiftieth anniversary celebration on September 16, 1893. The Twin-City Sentinel on October 16, 1952 implies 1845 as the first year of the fire department, citing a fiftieth anniversary in 1895. The Twin-City Sentinel on February 9, 1976 notes that the fire company took the name Rough and Ready from a mural on the side of the town's first suction engine, purchased in 1858. The article states that the fire company was formally organized after the civil war.
Winston-Salem Fire Department
Sanborn Fire
Insurance Maps via NC LIVE
Winston and Salem insurance maps from 1880, 1885, 1890, 1895,
1900, 1907, 1912, 1917, 1950, and 1957 are available online. Access
requires a password available from your local library. After
logging into NC LIVE, click Browse Resources and select Maps
Old Salem Market and Fire House
Forsyth County Public
Library
Two books about the Winston-Salem Fire Department were published in
1992 and 2002. Search the Library Catalog for keywords "Winston-Salem Fire."
The library's reference files were also consulted, along with the Forsyth: The History of a County on the March published by the
The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill in 1976
Charlotte
Durham
Fayetteville
Goldsboro
Greensboro
High Point
Kinston
New Bern
Raleigh
Rocky Mount / Wilson
Wilmington
Winston-Salem
A version of this article was published on FireNews.net on November 25, 2005.
Copyright 2023 by Michael J. Legeros