Record #:

22967

Author(s):

Kammerer, Roger

Abstract:

It was after the great Greenville fire of 1879 that many saw the need for a fire alarm. In 1884, Col. Isaac A. Sugg formed the “Greenville Hook and Ladder Fire Company.” This group was made up of volunteer black men headed up by Sam O. Mason. The town bell was used as a fire alarm. In 1896, another volunteer fire company known as the “Hope Fire Company” was formed. In 1897 a fire bell was erected on the Court House square. In 1899, Fire Chief A. J. Griffin, obtained a 700 pound steel train rim as a fire gong and erected it over the fire station on Fourth Street. The fire gong was moved to the new fire station on Fifth Street in 1909 and was replaced in 1913 with a steam whistle. Before WWII the whistle on the electric power plant by the river was used as the fire alarm and in 1943 a fire siren was placed on top of City Hall.

Source:

Greenville Times / Pitt's Past (NC Microforms), Vol. Issue , Oct 12-25 1994, p7

Subject(s):

Greenville--History--Fire alarms