Day in Indiana History - September 15, 1849 - Charter Granted to Madison's Fair Play Fire Company Number One

A Day in Indiana History - September
A Day in Indiana History - September
September 15, 1849 - Charter Granted to Madison's Fair Play Fire Company Number One
Platted in 1809, Madison had no fire company until 1821, when local citizens formed the United Volunteer Fire Company. City officials decided to create a paid fire company in 1826. this company lasted less than a year and the project abandonded. Many of the former members of the original United Volunteer Fire Company joined together and organized the Fair Play Fire Company No. 1, charter granted on September 15, 1849.
Still in Existence
The Fair Play Fire Company Number One still exists in a station made from converted street car barn. The Ones, as locals call them, occupied that site in 1888. They added a fifty-five foot bell tower topped by a weather vane they called  “Little Jimmy.”  A storm in 1997 damaged this vane, and it has been replaced by a new hand made copper vane. The Fair Play Fire Company Number One is the oldest active fire company in Indiana.

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