Firehouses · Founded 1846
Good Intent Fire Company No. 1
Organized in 1846, the Good Intent Fire Company No. 1 is one of Pottsville's oldest volunteer fire companies, still operating from Station 10 at 7 North 2nd Street downtown.
The Good Intent Fire Company No. 1 was organized on October 5, 1846 and incorporated on February 2, 1860, making it one of the oldest of Pottsville’s volunteer fire companies. It operates today as Station 10 from a downtown firehouse at 7 North 2nd Street, just east of Centre Street, running Engine 11.
The company carries one of the city’s most somber firefighting records: on April 14, 1872, Corporal Charles Ewing of the Good Intent was killed responding to a fire on Sanderson Street — Pottsville’s earliest documented firefighting line-of-duty death. The company remains an active part of the consolidated Pottsville Bureau of Fire, which draws its independently chartered volunteer companies under a single paid fire chief.
From the archive
Historic maps and photographs from the Schuylkill Hub archive, each available as an archival print.
Sources
- Pottsville Fire Department — Firefighting Wiki (stations, histories, merger record)
License: reference - City of Pottsville — Fire (official)
License: reference - Pottsville Republican fire-department feature, Oct. 11, 1955 (via Newspapers.com)
License: publisher
Frequently asked
- How old is the Good Intent Fire Company?
- It was organized on October 5, 1846 and incorporated on February 2, 1860 — one of the oldest of Pottsville's volunteer fire companies, and still in service today from Station 10 at 7 North 2nd Street.