Month: July 2021

On the 100 block of South Alfred Street, a monumental piece of Alexandria’s history stands – the Friendship Firehouse. Originally built in 1855, the building has been through a lot, including the entirety of the Civil War, where Union troops took control of the city and occupied all five Alexandria firehouses. Despite this, the Friendship Firehouse continues to thrive to this day, now serving as a museum filled with fascinating antiques, like the suction engine – an early fire truck used by the firehouse in the mid-19th century that drew its water through a hose, replacing the tiresome, and tedious, the technique of filling up buckets and transporting them by hand to the fire. Continue reading