Lost Capitol Hill: No. 8 Fire Company

As Hill residents, we are all well aware of the fire engines that go screaming down our streets every day and the sight of a hook and ladder tearing by is one that only the youngest of us still find in any way exciting.

It would be a very different situation, though, if those were horse-drawn vehicles, as they were many years ago. Today, we will take a look at the origins of fire fighting on the Hill, and the horses that made it possible.

As DC, and particularly Capitol Hill, grew after the Civil War, there was also a great need for further fire stations. Although the DC fire department had been organized in 1803, it took over 85 years for any fire station to be built in the SE quadrant of the city.

In 1886, Joseph Parris, the chief engineer of the fire department, complained that there was a real need for a fire station in East Washington. Fortunately, the city father listened and so on January 22, 1889, a new fire house opened at 637 North Carolina Ave SE. It was given the name No. 8 Engine, a far cry from the first fire houses, which had been given names like “Union No. 1” or “Columbia No. 3”

The new station was equipped with two horse-drawen vehicles: a steam-powered fire engine built by Clapp & Jones, a Hudson, NY, company that had been building fire engines since 1862, and a hose reel carriage build by the McDermott brothers, local carriage-makers.

The fire house was welcomed by its new neighbors with open arms, and a little over a year after opening, the locals swarmed to the fire house and presented it with a banner with the words “No. 8 Fire Company” on it, as well as a US flag to display outside.

1903 map showing location of the firehouse in relation to Eastern Market (Library of Congress)

The love affair continued on, and the fifth anniversary of the fire station was celebrated in a big way, with the firemen clearing out their dorm in order to allow in a huge crowd, which was regaled with banjos, mandolins, and comic songs. The evening was topped off with an oyster roast that was served by the firemen themselves.

For the next 40 years, four bells would sound in the station and send the firemen and their rigs tearing around the city — and even beyond, on occasion — in search of fires to put out. The horses were not the only animal associated with the fire engine: Dot the dog was as much part of the fire station as the horses. With the advent of motor cars, however, it became clear that the horses would soon draw their last engine, and in spite of the efforts of the Lincoln Park Citizens’ Association, who felt that horses should continue to be used, the last three horses, Barney, Gene, and Tom, were retired to Blue Plains, where they found a suitable pasture at the District Home for the Aged and Infirm. For the next few years, they would be brought out of retirement to pull and engine during the Labor Day parade.

Fire company No. 8 continued its good work, helping put out a blaze at the William E. Miller furniture store at D and 8^th Streets SE in 1941. Changes in the area, as well as the need for more space caused the company to move to 1520 C Street SE in 1964. The old firehouse was torn down, and six years later, the Capitol East Natatorium opened on that spot. It is, of course, what we now know as the Rumsey Aquatic Center.