Fired Up

Jefferson Marks 250 Years With a Fitting Celebration

By  Jody Brumage

Archivist, Heritage Frederick

At 1:15 a.m. on May 13, 1899, an explosion in the feed store of George Rowles on the east end of Libertytown awoke Rachel Linthicum who observed flames emanating from the building. According to the Banner of Liberty newspaper, “The alarm was first given by a lady. Another lady went from her home at the east end nearly to the other extremity of town and rang every door bell on Main Street,” alerting residents to the impending disaster.

For 90 minutes, the blaze spread to Rowles’ residence and general store. Town citizens rallied to bring the fire under control using an antiquated hand-pumped fire engine. By dawn, the fire was extinguished. Rowles’ store and house and the neighboring residence of Jane Devilbiss had been reduced to smoldering ruins. 

The disaster was a wake-up call to Libertytown residents. A town meeting was called a week later under the direction of Edwin Devilbiss, whose residence had been saved from destruction during the fire. The residents organized the United Volunteer Fire Company and pledged the funds to purchase modern firefighting equipment. Soon after the meeting, a fire hall was built on the north side of Main Street in the center of town. The volunteer firefighters also constructed a dam on Town Branch with a gate that could be closed to collect water for fighting fires. 

The fire company was reorganized as the Libertytown Volunteer Fire Company in 1964 and continues to serve the community 125 years after the 1899 fire.