Schoolfield Fire Station

To protect its expansive real estate, Dan River management pulled together a crew of company-employed firemen early as 1910, according to that year’s Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Around 1919, management expanded the fire department with the Schoolfield Fire Station that stood guard on the southwestern edge of the village. Eventually housing the village police headquarters in addition to the fire department, this Colonial Revival fire station established order and protection in Schoolfield. The one-and-a-half-story stucco fire station featured two engine bays centered on its front elevation facing West Main Street. Flanking these bays on either side were Craftsman style entrances featuring fanlights and long two-over-two double-hung windows with transoms. Clad in terra cotta tile, the fire station’s roof boasted hipped dormers on the front and the rear roof planes and an exterior end corbeled brick chimney on one side. Impressive in design, this fire station could serve both the practical function of protecting village property as well as serving as a reminder of the care and protection millhands could expect from management. The station was active until 1987. Today, the building serves as the offices of Dr. Gregory Howard, DDS, a Schoolfielder and dentist.

The police also were housed in the fire station and this Bee article from August 4, 1942 highlights one long-standing policeman in the village.

A 2020 photo showing the Schoolfield Fire Station, now dentist office, at 1121 W. Main Street. Photo on file with the City of Danville.

This 1920ca photo shows the Schoolfield Fire Station. Photo Courtesy of the Danville Register & Bee.

See also:

Boznick, Tara. “Dentist Transforms old Schoolfield Fire Station,” Danville Register and Bee. February 20, 2011. https://godanriver.com/dentist-transforms-old-schoolfield-fire-station/article_f7112d61-face-54b2-8367-7887f01d4a74.html

Smith, Robert S. Mill on the Dan: A History of Dan River Mills, 1882-1950. Duke University Press, 1960. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000314340;view=1up;seq=9, p 122.