Firefighting in CharlestonFires, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, and epidemics... although Charleston has faced many kinds of disasters over its long history, fire has had the greatest impact on the city.
In 1698 a great fire swept through the fledging settlement of Charles Town. Although the government established a night watch, taxed property owners to purchase firefighting equipment, and required chimneys to be built from brick or stone, devastating fires ravaged the city in 1700, 1740, and the 1770s.
Volunteer fire companies organized during the first half of the 19th century. Property owners purchased a membership to receive firefighting services. By 1870 over 1600 volunteer firefighters worked in a dozen companies.
It was the great fire of 1861 that prompted the city to establish a permanent firefighting organization. A small fire on Hasell Street became a great conflagration that roared across the peninsula burning 575 private homes and numerous public buildings and businesses.
As a result of the fire, in 1877 Charleston became the first American city to install Gamewell outdoor fire alarm boxes. In January 1882, Mayor William A. Courtenay established the city's first paid fire department. This commemorative bell was donated to the City to honor this achievement.
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August 1886, a disastrous earthquake struck Charleston. Fires broke out across the city. Debris obstructed the engine houses and the fire alarm system was rendered useless. Afterward, Mayor Courtenay built three new fire houses at strategic locations across the city: a central house here at Meeting and Wentworth streets, an upper house on Cannon Street near King Street, and a lower house on Meeting Street near Queen Street.
A Park for Mayor CourtenayIn 1885, the City of Charleston decided to honor Mayor William A. Courtenay with a park here on the corner of Meeting and Wentworth streets. The cast iron pavilion was erected as part of the park plan. It is a typical Victorian-era shelter used in parks and gardens throughout the United States. After the earthquake of 1886, Charleston City Council decided to build a new firehouse here instead. Perhaps they kept the pavilion since it was Mayor Courtenay who helped establish the first paid fire department.
Artesian WellOriginally, the fountain in this courtyard was fed by an artesian well. It was one of several wells installed around the city to provide clean water to residents in the 19th century. This well was a challenge to dig. It took three attempts, three decades, and $150,000.00 before a sufficient amount of water was reached nearly 2,000 feet below the surface in 1877.
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