America Hose Company No. 4 - Mount Holly, NJ
N 39° 59.641 W 074° 47.274
18S E 518106 N 4427114
Initially, this firehouse was constituted on April 3, 1858. Today, unless you are a waymarker with a keen eye looking for such things, you would never find realize this was a former firehouse. Today it is called Red, White & Brew.
Waymark Code: WMABE6
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 12/19/2010
Views: 5
A good beer shop with small micro brews and a variety of crafted beer is hard to find but one which used to be a firehouse with a knowledgeable staff to tell yo about it and let you poke around upstairs is even better. I cannot reconcile why this fire company was instituted or how it came to be considering this is a town with the oldest volunteer fire company in the country.
On july 11, 1752, the original fire company called The Britannia Fire Company of Bridgetown, which is then changed to Mount Holly Fire Company in April of 1787 cause the locals now hate the Brits! In 1805 the Union fire company is organized. On March 16, 1850 the Good Intent Fire Company is organized. Now eight years later, this fire company is established and I cannot figure out why. Perhaps it was a private on which charged for their services and was not supported by tax dollars. Think of it, when they were instituted, there were already three fire companies in place in a town the size of a postage stamp back then.
The front has changed a lot since the original building was erected. I noticed an old worn stone at the top just under the roof which tipped me off to go inside and ask about the history of this building. That is when I saw a framed picture of the firehouse from a hundred years ago. I saw some similarities but had to ask to be sure. Sadly, the small bell tower is gone and the owners aren't sure what happened to it. I believe it was removed not too long ago. The stone at the top of the building reads:
Instituted
April 13th 1858
Incorporated
March 8th 1870
The owners were so nice. They gave me a brief history of how they came to own the building. The place was gutted, the outside changed or augmented. Lots of thins were removed. Today, the building is still a supporting structure to the Mount Holly Historic District. They also let me go upstairs to see their meeting room I didn't see anything fiery or spooky but everything up top still appears original. Look at the photo gallery and judge for yourself.
Address
33 High Street
Mount Holly, NJ 08060
(609) 702-9949