Site of Washington's First Black Fire Company to Be Honored \r \r
Cultural Tourism D.C. will honor a site of Fire Engine Company No. 4, Engine 4, the first all-Black firehouse in Washington, D.C.
The Washington Post writes:
On Aug. 23 Cultural Tourism D.C. will unveil a plaque at 931 R St. N.W., a site of Fire Engine Company No. 4. Engine 4 was organized as the first all-Black company about 1918. Its first firehouse was in the Southwest. In 1940 Engine 4 was moved to the R Street location, a firehouse that was built in 1885. The D.C. Fire Department was desegregated in 1960 and Engine 4 moved to Sherman Avenue N.W., now named for Burton W. Johnson, the city’s first African-American fire chief.
The plaque commemorates the hundredth marker on what is called the African-American Heritage Trail.
In 2006 Cultural Tourism D.C. first began the landmarking project that highlights notable places in local African-American history.
(Photo: Larry Downing/Reuters/Landov)
