Serendipity

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When I wrote the previous post, I had one more postcard to include, but I wanted to verify the background details with Charles Cadle, the authority for everything you want to know about the history of the city fire department. Before I was able to arrange that, however, Charlie spoke with a Capital reporter, whose story appeared in today's newspaper, filling in the details that I needed to get.


The postcard shows two horses racing down King George Street, pulling the city's steam engine behind them. They appear to have just passed the intersection with Martin Street, heading for Randall Street and Gate 1. Horses powered the steam engine from 1884, when it was purchased for the Independent Fire Company No. 2, until they and the steam engine were replaced in 1911 by the horsepower of the city's first motorized fire engine.
The above image is taken from the 1885 Sanborn Company map of Annapolis. The periodic series of Sanborn maps show the footprints of all structures in the city as well as building height and fabric. The first set of maps for Annapolis was prepared just in time to capture the new fire station in City Hall. By that time, the fire department had celebrated the arrival of its new engine by hosting a Thanksgiving Day parade in November 1884 -- an opportunity to show off their new equipment. [“History of the Independent Fire Company from an Old Program,” p.4.] The engine was housed in City Hall until the city government built a larger facility across the street. The fire company occupied the new two-story brick firehouse from 1917 until 1983. But the steam engine was gone by that time.


Fortunately, postcards and photographs, like the one above, record a time when city residents and property owners depended on the power and speed of horses, as well as the skills of members of the fire department, to protect their property.
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