Baltimore Before Fire Companies
1729 - 1763
..The establishment of “Baltimore Town” was born from the desire of many leading men of Baltimore County to have a port of entry near their homes. The Maryland Upper House of Assembly was petitioned, July 14, 1729, “for the building of a town on the north side of the Patapsco River, upon land belonging to Charles and Daniel Carroll”. The bill was signed on August 8, 1729, establishing the town.
..The site selected consisted of sixty acres on the north side of the Patapsco River on a tract of land known as “Cole’s Harbor”. The town was laid out in 60, one acre lots, traversed by three streets, today known as Baltimore, Calvert, and Charles, along with nine lesser lanes of varying lengths.
BACK TO F.D. HISTORY
..The site selected consisted of sixty acres on the north side of the Patapsco River on a tract of land known as “Cole’s Harbor”. The town was laid out in 60, one acre lots, traversed by three streets, today known as Baltimore, Calvert, and Charles, along with nine lesser lanes of varying lengths.
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..With the lots being of ample size, the buildings, although mainly of wood construction, were well spaced, thus providing an element of safety that tended to prevent a general conflagration in case of fire.
..The early records are sketchy, but the town of Baltimore remained relatively free of disastrous fires during its first two decades of existence. In 1747, special regulations were passed to levy fines for a chimney fire that blazes out the top, and for property owners that failed to maintain a ladder to reach the top of their roof.
..The first recorded fire in Baltimore occurred March 16, 1749, at the house of Greenbury Dorsey. In this fire, six persons lost their lives.
..In these early days, at the cry of “FIRE”, everybody in town became a fireman. As the citizens formed in long lines, the words “hand along the buckets” were heard, as filled buckets from wells, or other sources, were passed up one line to the fire, and the empty buckets returned by the other. Every man felt that a fire in the town was a matter of direct concern to himself, and he lent his best efforts to save his fellow-towns-man from loss.
..A Town meeting was held in 1760 to discuss provisions for more effectually securing the safety of property from fire, but whether any plan was formulated is doubtful. It is certain that no fire company was organized at that time. Those were primitive days, and primitive ways.
..Baltimore Town was beginning to expand at this time, with the annexation of Jones Town, Old Town, and the area west, and south of the harbor basin. On July 16, 1763 a lottery scheme was proposed by the town to complete the market house, enlarge the present public wharf, construct a second wharf and buy two fire engines and a parcel of leather buckets. Along with this growth, and the anticipated acquisition of fire fighting equipment, the first fire company in Baltimore would soon be established.
..The early records are sketchy, but the town of Baltimore remained relatively free of disastrous fires during its first two decades of existence. In 1747, special regulations were passed to levy fines for a chimney fire that blazes out the top, and for property owners that failed to maintain a ladder to reach the top of their roof.
..The first recorded fire in Baltimore occurred March 16, 1749, at the house of Greenbury Dorsey. In this fire, six persons lost their lives.
..In these early days, at the cry of “FIRE”, everybody in town became a fireman. As the citizens formed in long lines, the words “hand along the buckets” were heard, as filled buckets from wells, or other sources, were passed up one line to the fire, and the empty buckets returned by the other. Every man felt that a fire in the town was a matter of direct concern to himself, and he lent his best efforts to save his fellow-towns-man from loss.
..A Town meeting was held in 1760 to discuss provisions for more effectually securing the safety of property from fire, but whether any plan was formulated is doubtful. It is certain that no fire company was organized at that time. Those were primitive days, and primitive ways.
..Baltimore Town was beginning to expand at this time, with the annexation of Jones Town, Old Town, and the area west, and south of the harbor basin. On July 16, 1763 a lottery scheme was proposed by the town to complete the market house, enlarge the present public wharf, construct a second wharf and buy two fire engines and a parcel of leather buckets. Along with this growth, and the anticipated acquisition of fire fighting equipment, the first fire company in Baltimore would soon be established.