Click on images to enlarge.
The Eden Park Fire Company was established in October of 1898.
A newspaper article which appeared in The Providence News on October 15, 1898, stated in part: “The residents of the Eden Park District have formed a fire company to be known as the Eden Park Fire Company for the protection of their district. The formation of a company has been in the mind of several since the Smith homestead was burned, but it was only recently that the matter assumed practical shape. There is now a membership of 25, and the company has 1,000 feet of hose. Temporary officers have been elected to hold office until the company is more thoroughly organized. Mr. George L. Bailey, who has been selected as foreman, is an old firefighter. The other officers are: First Assistant Foreman, J. J. Snow; Second Assistant Foreman, L. B. Wenstandley; Secretary, S. W. Phillips; Treasurer, Frank L. Budlong”
However, another newspaper article which appeared in the Cranston News on November 17, 1926, maintained that the Eden Park Fire Company wasn’t established until December 4, 1908. According to the article, Harry Jencks, a member of the company, had written a history of the Eden Park Fire Company, which stated in part:
“On Dec. 4, 1908”, Mr. Jencks related, “several citizens of Eden Park, after discussing the need for a volunteer fire company, got together and voted to organize and elected as temporary officers: President – Frank E. Searll; Vice President – Charles A. Jencks, and Secretary and Treasurer – Harry E. Jencks. At this meeting James Grant, W. T. Sherman and Thomas E. Borden were elected a committee to obtain new members. The first board of trustees was E. Gorton, J. L. Perry and James Bow. On January 8, 1909, Mr. Lawton, Mr. Perry, and Mr. Jencks were appointed a committee to incorporate under laws of Rhode Island, which was done.”
The article went on to explain that plans for a fire station were submitted at a meeting on August 6, 1909, shortly after the (then) town of Cranston had gifted a “high-wheeled hose reel” to the company. The fire station was constructed at a cost of $908, but its location isn’t stated.
On April 25, 1912, the fire station caught fire and was destroyed, but another station was constructed at 50 Colonial Avenue. This second station has survived to this day and is presently a private home.
The reason for the discrepancy as to the year the fire company was established is unknown at this time.
Annual meetings to elect officers and pay dues were held in January of each year. Annual dues were one dollar per year – payable in advance.
As to the hose reel mentioned in the 1924 Cranston News article; the apparatus was kept in a building separate and apart form a structure referred to as “Grant’s barn”, where Mr. Grant, a member of the company, kept his horse. The volunteers would pull the hose reel to the barn and hitch the horse to it.
At some point the company purchased the chassis of an old automobile which had belonged to Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, and converted it to a fire truck with a body manufactured at the Pawtucket Fire Company. The fire truck was nicknamed “Evelyn”.
The company fire station was located on Colonial Avenue near the corner of Spring Street. One interesting story about the building concerns the fire bell which once hung there. The bell was cast in 1838 by G. H. Holbrook of Medway, Massachusetts. It was 2ft. 2 in. high, 2 ft. 8.5 inches at the bottom, and weighed 870 pounds. It originally hung in the Pine Street Baptist Church in Providence, which was located on the corner of Dorance and Pine Streets.
In 1857 the church was sold at auction to Gardner T. Swarts who converted it to a public hall. Mr. Swarts lived diagonally across the street, and had a wire attached to the bell that ran to the second floor of his home. Thus the bell became part of an early fire alarm system which Mr. Swarts would ring in the event of fire.
Ironically, the former church building was destroyed by fire in 1863, but the bell was rescued by firemen when it dropped into the vestry. The bell was then installed on the roof of Mr. Swarts’ home and continued to be used to announce a fire.
At some point the bell was installed at Providence’s fire station number seven then located between Clifford and Ship Streets, where it remained until March of 1911, when it was removed and destined to be scrapped. However, a man named Frank E. Searls heard of the bell and purchased it for the Eden Park Fire Company. It was installed in the fire station in July of 1911, and was used to call volunteers to the station. By the late 1920s it had become obsolete, and on May 9, 1930, at a company meeting, it was voted to donate the bell to the Phillips Memorial Baptist Church on Pontiac Avenue in Cranston, where it presumably still hangs today.
The bell was donated in memory of Robert P. Scott, the only Cranstonian from the Auburn/Eden Park area to loose his life in the service of his country in World War I. Robert was the son of Captain Herbert D. Scott of the Eden Park Fire Company. (Captain Scott passed away after more than 20 years of service in May of 1928.)
One way the company raised funds was to hold an annual carnival, usually in July, on the lot adjoining the fire station.
In the early morning hours of December 16, 1924, the Eden Park and Auburn volunteer companies responded to 147 Blackamore Avenue for a house fire. All occupants were evacuated safely. The cause was accidental. Damage was estimated at $5000.
In January of 1926, William J. Glover was elected chief. Other officers elected were A. R. Snow to VP, H. W. Foster to secretary, F. F. Clark to treasurer. In 1926 the company had 502 members.
In June of 1927, the company was trying to raise $5,000 to by a new truck. An order was placed for a GMC combination chemical and hose truck.
Click on images to enlarge.
