Where were the police and fire stations located in Washington back in 1880? Check out this great old map. Source: Library of Congress This was done by...
What a horrible story. We found this printed in The Washington Post on April 6th, 1907. Fire Chief Belt yesterday ordered a thorough investigation of the stabbing with a pitchfork of a fire department horse at No. 8 engine...
This is pretty cool, and our fire engine fans out there will love it. This is what the fire department looked like in 1912. Three firemen on fire engine drawn by three horses,...
Here's a Sunday night photo for you as you're trolling the Internet, dreading tomorrow (case of the Mondays?). This...
In my call for suggestions last week, GoDCer Rych emailed a request to look into the last fire horses for the District fire department. John Kelly did a piece a few years back in the Post...
Here are a couple photos from my new favorite site, Shorpy. This was taken on January 5th, 1921 at the intersection of Columbia Rd. and Sherman Ave. NW.
Now this is cool ... take a look at the photo of the same intersection today (courtesy Google Street View). Both photos are looking east down Columbia Rd. The whole row of homes on the right is still there.
Below, read what was written in the Post a few days later on January 8th.
Evidently, horses racing through the streets of Columbia Heights was a dangerous thing at the turn of the century. This article I came across from July 9th, 1900 talks about a recent accident leading to new regulations.
A skillful hand is required to guide a team of spirited horses, rushing madly through crowded streets in response to an alarm of fire. The advent of the swiftly moving electric car and the vast extension of trackage in this city has made these wild runs of the engines doubly hazardous. The man who holds the reins has his own life and the lives of his brother firemen in his hands as he urges his tearing steeds across car tracks around corners and among vehicles of every description.Doesn't this sound slightly like the current chaos of the fire trucks screaming -- at the highest possible decibel level -- down 14th St. NW, weaving through traffic as they pass Target and Best Buy.