FARMVILLE, NC

Image: Sanborn map-September 1915
Volunteer, three hose companies with fifteen white and twelve "negro men." One hook and ladder company of four men. Three reels and 1500 feet two-and-a-half-inch hose. One hand-drawn hook and ladder truck. Fire alarm bell. Twenty-five double hydrants.
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Farmville and the other cities in the coastal plain maintained their Black firefighters much longer than did the departments in the Piedmont and the Mountains.

Farmville has never been a large industrial city but has always had an active fire department. The Black fire company there consisted of 12 men but they were able to host the convention and tournament in the 30s. The history of this company has been preserved.
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Sanborn Maps:
September 1915
Volunteer, three hose companies with fifteen white and twelve "negro men." One hook and ladder company of four men. Three reels and 1500 feet two-and-a-half-inch hose. One hand-drawn hook and ladder truck. Fire alarm bell. Twenty-five double hydrants

April 1923
Volunteer, thirty-two, one paid driver, one paid chief. Department fully motorized. Gamewell electric fire alarm system. Thirteen boxes. Alarm direct to power plant whistle.
Fifteen call boxes "in transit" to be installed by May 15, 1923. Will transmit alarm directly from boxes. Also, one sixteen-inch mechanical gong to be installed on Wilson and Main Streets. Fifty-five double hydrants.

Station 1 with twenty men (volunteers). Triple combination American LaFrance pump, chemical, and hose car. 750 GPM pump capacity. 60 gallon chemical extinguisher and 1000 feet two-and-a-half-inch C.R.L. hose (new). 1000 feet two-and-a-half-inch C.R.L. hose in reserve (good condition).

Station 2 with twelve men (colored volunteers). One Ford hose truck with 1000 feet four-inch C.R.L. hose, 1000 feet C.R.L. hose in reserve (good condition).

May 1929
Station 2 has twelve men, colored volunteers, equipped with one Chevrolet truck with 800 feet two-and-a-half-inch hose.

December 1937
Station 2 has twelve "colored volunteers" and a Chevrolet truck with 800 feet two-and-a-half inch hose
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Citations:
1915 - The Farmville Enterprise on April 2, 1915, reported that the town now had a fully equipped fire department comprised of four companies: three hose companies and one hook and ladder company. Company Number 3 was colored, and led by Captain Sherrod Blount.

1937 - The Farmville Enterprise on August 20, 1937, reported that 200 colored firemen, comprising 12 companies and representing 18 towns, held the 47th annual convention of the "North Carolina Negro Volunteer Fire Association" in town that week. Members of Farmville's colored fire company were listed as Joe Askew (Captain), Walter Bullock, Leon Wallace, Starlin Gorham, Red Dupree, Ed Joyner, Bennet Gorham, William Baker, Shaw Blount, Ernest Moore, Jack Hopkins, and Tom McKenney.

1940 - The Farmville Enterprise on September 20, 1940, reported that the "colored fire department" would stage the Pitt County Colored Fair that year.

1943 - The Farmville Enterprise on March 26, 1943, reported on meeting of the town's black citizens, on the subject of civilian defense, and that the "Negro fire company" was fully present.