sksvlad
Well-Known Member
This neat museum has a surprisingly strong military link to the American Civil War. After the Battle of New Bern, Union (North) Army occupied the town without any firefighting staff, since all the firemen went to fight on the Confederate (South) side. So the Union forces organised their own fire brigade called the Button Company. Eventually the original Southern firefighters of the Atlantic Company came back after the War ended, but they refused to work with firefighters from the North. So the occupiers (sounds familiar?) created 2 (two) fire companies who were stationed in 2 (two) identical mirror sides of the same building and had 2 (two) separate shutes to descend from the 2nd floor. They raced to a fire using their 2 separate sets of equipment, but only the first to arrive got paid for extinguishing a fire. That is the reason why the present museum building has 2 identical mirror images sides.
Almost exactly 100 years ago, on Dec.1, 1922, a sports event took place in Raleigh, NC and a local train line advertised $3.50 round trip for fans. So almost all firefighters left New Bern. A fire at a local timbre yard, combined with fierce winds, destroyed a major part of the town, sending people to live in the streets. Ft. Bragg and US Navy sent IWW surplus tents for the homeless but it took more than a week to install.
Almost exactly 100 years ago, on Dec.1, 1922, a sports event took place in Raleigh, NC and a local train line advertised $3.50 round trip for fans. So almost all firefighters left New Bern. A fire at a local timbre yard, combined with fierce winds, destroyed a major part of the town, sending people to live in the streets. Ft. Bragg and US Navy sent IWW surplus tents for the homeless but it took more than a week to install.
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