By Wallace McKelvey • Staff Writer, Delmarvanow.com 

For decades, a piece of Georgetown's history was hiding in plain sight.

Toby Givens, president of the Historic Georgetown Association, bought plants and dog food from Paul Short's Southern States Feed Store off Route 113, unaware he was walking through the town's first firehouse.

"I'd been in there many, many times and never had a clue," he said.

Now situated along the railroad tracks at the center of town, with the two adjoining sheds that long masked the 1904 structure's true identity demolished, a group of residents are working to restore the old firehouse to its former glory.

"We didn't believe it at first," said Carlton Moore, of the HGA. "We went in and checked it out, and knew we couldn't let this place be torn down."

Rescued from the wrecking ball in 2008 and moved near the group's restored railroad station, Moore said the HGA is waiting for a grant to clear in order to further repair the dilapidated structure.

The foundation and roof have already been completed, but the exterior needs to be restored to its 1904 appearance. The structural supports need to be reinforced and the interior is still barren.

"It'd be nice to have it done by Return Day, but that may not be a reality right now," he said, but it could be completed within the next year.

The firehouse, which was home to the town's volunteer fire company from 1904 to 1926, was originally located behind the Court House on South Race Street.

When a larger building was completed on the "Square" in the fall of 1926, it was moved to the edge of town and converted to a feed store.

"The only reason we know exactly where it was, is that there's a picture where you can see the back of the steeple of the courthouse," Moore said.

That photograph will serve as the model for the group's restoration efforts, he said.

"It was in very rough condition when we got it, but we think we can restore it as near as possible to what it originally looked like," Moore said.

Givens said the firehouse is part of the larger Kimmeytown neighborhood revitalization that has taken place.

In addition to the railroad station, which was purchased by HGA in 1996, he said the group is working to restore a general store across the tracks, and the Indian River Land Company has fixed up a number of dilapidated homes in the area.

"Riding through it today versus 10 years ago, you can see it's a very big improvement," Givens said. "You fix up one house and suddenly the neighbors will say, 'I should fix up mine.' "

Lewis Briggs, a firefighter and former president of the Georgetown Fire Company, said restoring the old firehouse is a beautiful idea.

"When you've got the opportunity to preserve something like that, you have to take it," he said. "Once it's gone, it's gone."

When the project is completed, Briggs and several others are planning to donate antique equipment and artifacts from that time.

He said the department still owns an original hand cart that was purchased in 1903.

"It's a hand-drawn wagon with ladders and leather buckets that hung underneath it," Briggs said. "When they got (to a fire), I guess they'd go to a horse trough to fill up with water."

Restoring the old firehouse will help educate people about the town's long history, as well as how much firefighting has evolved, he said.

"The only fire station I've known, and most people know, is the one we're in now," Briggs said.

Once it's restored, HGA member Gerald Hitchens said the firehouse will be opened to the public and host regular tours for students.

"We want to try to let children know what it was like in the early 20th century," he said. "Before the big, red firetrucks, there were horse-drawn carriages and hand-pumps."

Wallace McKelvey can be contacted at: wmckelvey@dmg.gannett.com or 302-537-1881, ext. 208

Source:       http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100525/DW01/5250314/-1/DW