09/06/2026
September 6, 1906 the townspeople of Crown Point take action to provide fire protection to the town of 2,100+ (1900 Census).
There was still the major hurdle of purchasing equipment necessary to provide fire protection. One local banker was a key piece in securing the funds needed, a man by the name of Albert E. Phelps. In the forming of the fire company a meeting was held by the founding members, It was decided Phelps would be the namesake of the fire company forming the A.E. Phelps Chemical Engine Co.
By 1908, the fire company had acquired a Chemical Engine, a Ladder Wagon both pulled by two horse teams, and eventually a Ford Model-T. The 22 man team didn’t fight fires in specialized equipment like we do today, instead usually wearing wool and cotton work clothes.
One of the fire service founding principals is tradition in service. Since trading in horse drawn apparatus and a 20 Horsepower Model-T for 400+ horsepower diesel powered apparatus and work clothes for Nomex and Kevlar turnout gear we continue to pay respect to Albert Phelps by retaining a portion of the original fire company name nearly 90 years earlier when the name was changed to A.E. Phelps Fire & Rescue, to reflect a modernized department with ties to the volunteers of 1906.
We’re proud of our volunteers past and present, without them the last 120 years wouldn’t be possible.
September 6, 1906 - September 6, 2026.
120 years in service and counting
Pictured below left to right:
Elton Dudley, S. L. Mcintyre, A. W. Yell, F. S. Slight,
H. W. Berry, Arthur Deyo, W. F. Bruno, W. B. Wyman, A. A. Anderson, Ed Gilligan,C. Randall, P. A. Deyo, E. E. Spaulding, W. H. Mcintyre, P. H. Shellman, E. A. Washburn, A. E. Phelps, G. W. Sanders. W. H. Huestis, H. L. Mcintyre, W. T. Bennett & A. D. Barnett.
Photographed in front of the Crown Point House, C. 1908
