On this day in Arlington history: Nov 10, 1919: The cornerstone for the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department’s “Central Station House” was laid with elaborate ceremony. The 2most important speakers that day were State Senator Ralph Walton Moore, and Commonwealth Attorney Crandall Mackey who has been called the “Father of the County Fire Department.”
In 1915, after years of site searches, the Fire Department Volunteers purchased a lot for $362 on Lee Highway for a new “Central Station House,” the name given to the same station that serves Cherrydale today. The Volunteers raised money to purchase the land and begin construction of the new station by asking prominent citizens to contribute money and a brick would be placed in their name. President & Mrs. Woodrow Wilson were among those who purchased bricks for the Cherrydale Station.
The Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1898 by 12 men. It is the oldest volunteer fire department in Arlington County. Since its beginnings, the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department has been active in the community, not just fighting fires & saving lives but also hosting Christmas and Halloween parties, dances, parades, youth sports activities, & Bingo games. In the first few years after it was organized, its equipment (leather buckets, bells & ladders) stayed out in the open. By 1906, a small shed (referred to as “House #2”) on what is now Taylor Street was erected to hold the County’s first mechanized equipment: a hand-drawn water & hose cart.
“Engine House #1,” another small shed was completed on the grounds of the Cherrydale School in December 1912. It housed the 1st fire engine in the county, a 60 gallon pumper engine bought by the Cherrydale Volunteers in 1913. In 1914, “Engine House #3” was erected in the Maywood area.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Volunteers sold the four original engine houses to help pay for the “Central Station House.” The new station house was officially dedicated with an elaborate banquet in 1920.
