History of the Thomson Fire Department From thomson-mcduffie.com This excerpt was reprinted with permission from the McDuffie Progress in its entirety from the book �A Handbook of History, McDuffie County Georgia 1870-1970,� by Pearl Baker. The first fire company in Thomson was established in 1869 (all-volunteer) and was known as the �Young American Fire Company.� Their equipment consisted of old fashioned hand pumpers, axes, and a hose wagon, all pulled by horses, and used water pump from cisterns spotted at strategic locations around town. Those cisterns were the property of private individuals. In 1889, a hook and ladder outfit was added. Later, water was provided by the city and the cisterns were filled up. Thomson has had many spectacular fires, some nearly wiping out the town. One fire broke out in August, 1886, which destroyed six new brick store buildings erected on the hotel property as well as all the wooden structures which lined Railroad Street. In January, 1888, the west side of Main Street was razed, and fifteen stores, some of them two-story, were lost. This fire started in a store located where Brannan�s Drug Store now stands, and spread north and south. Judge Thrasher�s house (on the Post Office site [149 Main Street]) was saved by pulling down a small house between it and the onrushing flames. The papers of the day stated that it was one of the coldest nights on record, and the volunteer firemen were covered with icicles from using the hand pumped equipment. Fire struck again in 1910 destroying the Harrison Livery stable, and several houses on Greenway Street. As late as 1932 when horse-drawn, hand-pumped machines had been replaced with motor vehicles the Telephone office was destroyed by fire and they were obliged to move to the location on the corner of Main and Whiteoak Streets. One of the biggest fires, or at least the most spectacular, occurred when the school house burned down on Thursday, January 28, 1909. The children were not allowed any respite from education; however. The classes were resumed the following Monday with high school pupils accommodated in the courthouse. The primary grades went to school as usual in the old Montgomery house and other classes were held in the Baptist Church. Thomson had another school house fire in August 1938. Lightening struck the cupola of the High School and rapidly spread along the electrical wiring. Fire trucks were sent from as far away as Lincolnton and Augusta. After the fire, the bricks from the building were used to put a wall around the ball-park. [This is now the Thomson Bulldogs football stadium, or �The Brickyard�. The High School mentioned is now the Middle School.] Until a new school could be erected, scholars were placed in the Methodist Church and other buildings in town. In 1922 the city purchased an American-LaFrance truck of 750 gallon capacity and added new chemical apparatus. Today we have two modern trucks but the firefighters are still volunteer, paid a certain sum per fire. A driver stays in attendance at all times, and the fire department is housed in the new city hall building. ©2007 Thomson-McDuffie County