Winchester, Virginia, Fire Departments Collection

698 WFCHS/THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff 04/1986. Last revised 04/2022.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 0.42 linear feet

DATE: 1831 - 2013

SCOPE AND CONTENT: This collection contains new clipping, histories, Souvenir of the Winchester Fire Department, July 1897, and membership rolls of Winchester Fire Departments.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: The two earliest fire companies in Winchester, Virginia were Friendship (organized in 1831), and Union (organized in 1833). Union was later renamed Rouse Fire Company after Charles Broadway Rouss donated $10,000 to the company. The City later organized two other fire companies:  the Sarah Zane Fire Company in 1840 and the South End Fire Company in 1895.

RELATED MATERIAL: Friendship Fire Company Collection, 437 WFCHS; Rouss Fire Company Records, 1459 THL; South End Fire Company Records, 1284 THL; Sarah Zane Volunteer Fire Company Records, 440 WFCHS.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Morton, Owen Frederic. The Story of Winchester in Virginia, the oldest town in the Shenandoah Valley. Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, 1925.

CITE AS: Winchester, Virginia, Fire Departments Collection, 698 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA

ACQUISITION INFORMATION: Acquired as a gift

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

News Clippings

Letterhead of Cumberland Valley Volunteer Fireman’s Association, blank, 1 leaf, printed

“Fire Chiefs of the City of Winchester (9/5/1939-6/24/2013)”—6 leaves, typescript; contains collective history and timeline of the Fire Chiefs of Winchester, Virginia, compiled by Nathan Newlin, 2013

Booklet, Roll of Honor and History Volunteer Fire Department of Winchester – 1935, printed, 33 pages

Winchester Fire Companies by Frederic Morton, n.d., 1 leaf, typescript

Winchester Fire Companies of Long Ago, essay by Margaret Owens, Oct. 8, 1940, 5 leaves, manuscript

The Winchester Fire Departments, essay by Vincent Fansler, n.d., 4 leaves, typescript

Winchester Fire Department -Souvenir, July 7, 1897 includes membership rolls, and photos, unnumbered pages, printed (12 copies)