Fire Station No. 2

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Fire Station No. 2 in Navarro County. Now settle in, because this story starts the way a lot of good Texas stories do: with a bucket. December of 1879, the Corsicana Volunteer Fire Department got itself organized, with one J.

J. Strupper stepping up as chief. And those volunteers, bless their dedication, they were out there fighting fire the old-fashioned way.

Buckets. Just buckets and determination, hauling water toward whatever was burning and hoping for the best. Eventually, they graduated to hand-drawn equipment, and then horse-drawn equipment, which was a considerable improvement over a man running full-tilt with a sloshing pail.

Fire Station No. 1 set up at city hall, first occupied in 1892 by Chief F. N. Drane.

Now Drane wasn't just sitting around polishing the brass. He supervised the drilling of artesian wells to supply the water they needed. That is a man thinking ahead.

Then comes 1902, and west Corsicana gets its own protection in the form of First Station No. 2, built as a substation. For forty-five years, those volunteers gave everything they had, protecting lives and property across this city. Then, in 1924, the volunteer system was replaced by the City Fire Department.

The city kept right on using this very building until 1926. Forty-five years of buckets and bells and midnight runs, and this old station stood through all of it.

What the marker says

The Corsicana Volunteer Fire Department was organized in Dec. 1879, with J. J. Strupper as chief. Volunteer fire fighters carried buckets before acquiring hand- and horse-drawn equipment. Fire Station No. 1, located at city hall, was first occupied in 1892 by Chief F. N. Drane, who supervised drilling of artesian wells to supply water. First Station No. 2 was built in 1902 as a substation for west Corsicana. In 1924, after protecting lives and property for 45 years, the volunteer system was replaced by the City Fire Department, which continued to use this building until 1926.