A Short Chronology of the Archville Fire Department and the Scarborough Fire District - Notebook 2025-4 — Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society

By Mike Bassett

The hamlet of Archville is so named for the Arched structure that was built to carry the Croton Aqueduct over the Albany Post Road at the bottom of Arch Hill. The structure was built between 1835 and 1842 as part of the system to carry water into New York City. The structure was finally torn down in 1924 to provide a safer roadway.

The history of the Archville Fire Company dates back to the year 1907 when Leonard S.Sherwood and several other residents in the Archville section, began to organize fire service in the area. He built a 20-foot tower on the corner of Albany Post Road and what is now Union Street adjoining the old Ernest Dieter Inn (Also known as Specht’s Inn). At the foot of the tower a shed was built and in it was kept thirty galvanized buckets, which the firemen would use when an alarm was sounded. There was a bell on the top of tower that had been donated by Mr. Sherwood to sound the alarm.

On October 15, 1908, the residents of Archville petitioned the Town of Mount Pleasant and at the meeting, the Town Board passed a resolution making the company a recognized fire organization. At a Town Board meeting on August 16, 1909, a certificate of incorporation was drawn. The charter stated, ‘the department was organized for the purpose of prevention and extinguishment of fires at Archville in the Town of Mount Pleasant, and the directors were duly authorized by the unanimous vote of said association present and voting at said meeting”. The final approval of the Charter was made at the Town Board meeting held on November 11, 1909. At the meeting there were three residents elected as directors. Rev. B. Oakley Baldwin who was the rector of St. Mary’s Church, William W. Lee, and Warren W. Sherwood. Rev. Baldwin was a member of the company. Hubert W. Minnerly was named as the Foreman of the Company. The company was known as the Archville Fire Department.

Not long after the organization of the Company, a generous neighbor, Mrs. Kingsland, who resided on the property later known as the Farr estate, gave the company a site on Requa Street to construct a firehouse. Frank A. Vanderlip a resident up the road in Scarborough would donate and build the firehouse.

Holding bazaars and other affairs, the company raised enough funds to purchase a hand operated pumping engine in 1911. (1).

Also purchased, but unknown when was a hose cart. On May 4, 1929, the voters of Briarcliff Manor were asked to approve the creation of Archville Company becoming part of the Briarcliff Department. The Board approved an expenditure of $10,000 to complete the merger.

The Archville Department was now renamed the Scarborough Fire Company. Rev. Charles W. Baldwin, who was the Treasurer of Archville explained that Archville had enlisted in the Briarcliff department and has been accepted by the Board of Trustees. It was approved by the Village to maintain a station in a shed at the rear of the Scarborough Presbyterian Church on Scarborough Road. The station would house a new American LaFrance chemical truck. The American LaFrance truck would cost $5,600. The church shed would be modified to fit the apparatus. The old Archville firehouse will continue to be maintained. (2). The Chevrolet fire engine was purchased at a cost of $1,645. It was paid for with donations from 42 contributions of area residents. The engine would be housed at the Archville firehouse. The officers of the Archville Department were listed as Harold Lewis, Foreman, Hubert Clarke, President. Bryant A. Lewis, First Asst. Foreman. Conrad Schumm, Second Asst. Foreman. Leonard S. Sherwood, Secretary. Rev. Charles W. Baldwin, Treasurer. Among the donors was Henry H. Law, Mayor of Briarcliff, J.N. Kelly of Kelly Chevrolet where the engine was purchased, Sleepy Hollow Country Club, Frank A. Vanderlip, John Farr, and B. Walker (7).

On January 7, 1931, The Scarborough Fire District was created. Thirty residents met at the Archville firehouse to hold the election of the Commissioners and to start the district which they had been working on for over a year. Hubert Clarke was elected to a three-year term, Thomas Mahr for a two-year term and Adolph Specht to a one-year term. Mr. Clarke had been instrumental in getting the district formed and been working to complete the process (8). The first meeting of the Commissioners was to be held sometime on February 9th at the residence of Hubert Clarke of Scarborough, who was Chairman of the Commission. The commission had a budget of $635 which would be used to purchase insurance to cover the fireman of Archville along with the apparatus and equipment. (3)(4). In the winter of 1931, the Village of Briarcliff Manor began working with the new Archville Fire District to bring water lines and fire hydrants to the hamlet. In 1932 the Village of Briarcliff Manor signed an agreement with The Fire district to extend a six-inch water main down Route 9 from Briarcliff and to supply Requa and Union Street with water and two hydrants at the beginning of each street. The $3,600 cost would be paid by the fire district over three years and guaranteed by the Town of Mount Pleasant. The district will also rent two hydrants for $100 per year.

One of the first real tests of the new relationship between Archville and Briarcliff happened on the night of November 26, 1931 when a chimney fire broke out at the residence of Bryant Lewis. The fire was out before the other units arrived, but the Scarborough companies had the fire extinguished. A small hole was burned in the chimney and a part of the porch was damaged (17).

On December 7, 1933, one hundred and five members and guest gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the company at a dinner dance in Croton (12)

In the spring of 1937, the old hand pumping engine was repainted in a paint shop and will now be used for emergencies and parades (13).

On Wednesday, November 10, 1937, two members of the company were injured and six others escaped injury when the apparatus overturned when responding to a brush fire and turning into the driveway of the Farr Estate on Albany Post Road (5).

On April 4, 1939 seven of the fire districts 20 voters came out to approve the referendum for the purchase of a new engine (9). In May 1939, the Fire Commissioners of the district and Chiefs of the Briarcliff Manor Fire Department approved the purchase of a Ward LaFrance pumper at a cost of $2,209 to replace the current 10-year-old apparatus now in use. The new engine would have a 150 gpm pump, 200 booster tank, several hundred feet of booster hose, and other equipment (6). Because it was said that proper notice of the referendum was not given. A new referendum was held on August 24th and approved by the voters. The engine had already been delivered and an agreement was worked out with the dealer to use the truck until the new vote. (11).

In 1943 John D. Rockefeller III petitioned the fire district to add his 197 acres of properties to the district. The fire district approved this and it was also later approved by the Town of Mount Pleasant Town Council. The district grew again in 1964 when parcels to the east of the district were added. In January of 1943 it was reported that 17 members of the Scarborough Fire Company had been serving in the military.

In the spring of 1942, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Briarcliff Manor received a letter from the Chief Air Raid Warden requesting that the Scarborough and Archville whistles be altered for sounding of the air raid alarm and that other sirens be installed around town. Nothing was done on the last request, but the board approved spending $253. 25 to recycle the two whistles to provide for the air raid alarms (15).

On April 2, 1965, the voters of the Scarborough Fire District voted to approve a referendum for both a new firehouse and a new fire engine. 70 of the district’s 89 eligible voters came out for the referendum. 45 residents voted for the firehouse and 24 against. For the fire engine the vote was 51 residents for and 19 against. The land for the new firehouse was donated by John D. Rockefeller III and the building was designed by Don Reiman (10). In May of 1967 a dedication of the new firehouse and Hahn Pumper was held with approximately 50 residents attending.

The district and Briarcliff had a written agreement to share both men and equipment up until 1952. The two organizations continued to follow the relationship. For many years Briarcliff tried to get a new agreement without success. In 1971 the Village of Briarcliff Manor received a notice from the State Comptroller’s office advising them that without a written agreement between the two districts, the relationship should be terminated. The Village made the termination official on January 1, 1972 after the Scarborough Fire District failed to act on the Village proposal. Briarcliff also offered to sign a “fire protection agreement” with Scarborough as the village has done with Ossining and the Town of Mount Pleasant.

After the split of the companies, Briarcliff organized a new Scarborough Engine Company and Archville went back to providing coverage to the area of their fire district. See below for a few pictures of the Scarborough Engine Company as it looks today.

Archville changed their name back to the original Archville Fire Company. They also purchased a used pumper from the Ossining Fire Department as a spare engine. Below the Archville Fire Department as it looks today.

In July of 1977 Gov. Hugh Carey signed legislation creating the Archville Volunteer Firemen’s Benevolent Association. This allowed the company to collect a portion of special tax paid by out of state insurance companies that sell fire insurance in the Archville district (14).

In 1978 following a two-year struggle through the State of New York’s bureaucracy, the company was allowed to change its name back to the Archville Fire Company.

For more information see:

Archville Fire Company. 1909-2009. 100 Years of Service and Dedication
A Short History of the Scarborough Engine Company 1972-1992
Briarcliff Manor Fire Department, 1901-2001

All three publications are available for consultation at the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society (BMSHS). The BMSHS is located in the lower level of the Briarcliff Library Building.

SOURCES:

The Daily News, Tarrytown N.Y. March 27, 1947
Citizen Sentinel, Ossining, N.Y. April 17, 1929
Citizen Sentinel, Ossining, N.Y. January 15, 1931
Citizen Sentinel, Ossining, N.Y.
Peekskill Evening Star, Peekskill N.Y. November 11, 1937
The Daily News, Tarrytown, N.Y. April 5, 1939
Dobbs Ferry Register, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. October 11, 1929
Citizen Sentinel, Ossining, N.Y. January 8, 1931
Peekskill Evening Star, Peekskill, N.Y. April 5, 1939
The Citizen Register, Ossining, N.Y. April 3, 1965
The Citizen Register, Ossining, N.Y. August 3, 1939
The Daily News, Tarrytown, N.Y. December 8, 1933
The Daily News, Tarrytown, N.Y. May 11, 1937
The Daily News, Tarrytown, N.Y. July 8, 1977
The Daily News, Tarrytown, N.Y. March 13, 1942
Citizen Sentinel, Ossining, N.Y. November 27, 1931