Fire Station 8

Hall’s Hill Volunteer Fire Department around the late 1920s.

Fire Station No. 8, originally known as the Halls Hill Volunteer Fire Department, has been part of the Langston Boulevard corridor for over 100 years. Station 8 started as an independent all-Black, all-volunteer fire station that served the historically African American community of Hall’s Hill (High View Park). It is noted to be one of the first independently run and operated all-Black stations formed south of the Mason Dixon Line. Transitioning to an all-Black paid fire company with Arlington County in 1951, Station 8 remains an institution in the community.

As longtime Hall’s Hill resident Willie Jackson-Baker puts it, “If the community was a body, the fire station was the legs of the body. You couldn’t move without the fire station. It was an essential part of everything that went on in the community.” [LBA: Baker] Through the years, the station endured neglect, racism, and a recent county plan to remove it entirely, yet the firefighters became legends, and the station remained a symbol of resilience and pride, ensuring its place in the cultural heritage of Langston Boulevard.

History of the Station

The second Fire Station No. 8 was purpose built to house the volunteers and their equipment. It was located at 2209 North Culpeper Street.

Fire Station No. 8 was established in 1918 to serve the Hall’s Hill community, which received minimal municipal services, including firefighting. At that time, communities across the country relied on volunteer fire services. Although the Cherrydale Fire Company was located nearby, they often delayed their responses to the Hall’s Hill community or outright refused to serve it, likely due to the challenges of transporting firefighting equipment from that era or racial biases against the predominantly Black community like Hall’s Hill. Jim Moore, a former firefighter at Station No. 8 and owner of Mr. Moore’s Barbershop, notes that local Hall’s Hill residents came together to form an all-volunteer firefighting team as a response to the lack of service. [LBA: Moore] Their first piece of firefighting equipment was a human-drawn wagon holding a 60-gallon water tank. It was donated to the Hall’s Hill community by the Cherrydale volunteer fire station after they received their first motorized truck. [ARL Library]

The first fire station to house the fire equipment was an existing building located next to the ice house on Columbus Street. [LBA: Smith] The second station, the first to be purpose built as a fire station, was built for the volunteers in 1934. It was located on a lot that was donated by the Hicks family, prominent local business owners, on Culpepper Street. The new station housed two motorized fire engines that the volunteers had acquired over the preceding years through donations from the community. [ARL Library] The following year, volunteer fire departments across Arlington would be organized into the Arlington County Firemen’s Association. Conspicuously, this association excluded Station No. 8 and the other all-black fire station, the East Arlington Fire Department in the Queen City community. [ARL Library] The East Arlington Fire Department would later be disbanded.

As the local population grew, Arlington County began paying professional firefighters to work within six of the seven local volunteer stations, starting in 1941. Station No. 8 was the lone exclusion for over a decade. [ARL Library] Finally, in 1951, the county began paying for three professional firefighters at Station No. 8, adding several more over the next few years. This led to fourteen paid African American firefighters, often referred to as the “First 14,” on staff at Station No. 8, including (by order of hire) Alfred Clark, Julian Syphax, George McNeal, Archie Syphax, Hartman Reed, James K. Jones, Carroll Deskins, Henry Vincent, Carl Cooper, Ervin Richardson, Jimmy Terry, Wilton Hendricks, Bill Warrington and Bobby Hill. In 1957, the first of these paid firefighters, Alfred Clark, became the first Black fire captain in Arlington, continuing his service at Fire Station No. 8. [ARL Library]

Fire Station No. 8, 1963

The third station just after it was built in 1963; located at 4845 Langston Blvd.

In 1963, Fire Station No. 8 moved into a new station built on the lot next door at 4845 Langston Blvd (then Lee Highway). The new station was staffed by seventeen paid firefighters and supported by a number of volunteers from the Hall’s Hill neighborhood. Two pumper engines remained but were augmented by a new 100-foot aerial ladder truck. This station would continue in service until the new station was built on the same site.

The new Fire Station No. 8 is a 20,500-square-foot building with three stories and four drive-through bays. It houses Arlington County Fire Department’s Engine 108, Medic 108, Fire Marshal 108, Mobile Air, and Rehab units. As the newest station in Arlington, it was built to incorporate many of the County's new sustainability goals, including an energy-efficient building envelope, a green vegetated roof, and solar panels to reduce the building's energy demand. [ARL County] It also includes a heritage trail and words of resilience incorporated into its architecture to carry through its role in the cultural heritage of Langston Boulevard.

More than a Station

The firefighters of Station No. 8 were highly respected within the Hall’s Hill community, often serving beyond the station. They participated in events at the local schools, started local community programs, and supported youth sports. Most of them lived and worked in the community. Longtime resident Saundra Green remembers that one was the choir director at her church, the historic Mount Salvation United Methodist Church, one was the local Boy Scout leader, while others coached sports and taught golf to local children. [LBA: Green]

Fire Station No. 8 in 2015

They were also revered for their ability to perform despite receiving outdated and hand-me-down equipment. Margarite Gooden, daughter of a former Station No. 8 captain, remembers, “Station 8 firefighters…they got the least of everything. They were always the best with the least, and they never ever let it get them down. They were always excellent. When they weren’t given the resources to be excellent, they were excellent anyway.” [LBA: Gooden]

Their professionalism and resolve were made more evident by the fact that they served in the face of racism and Jim Crow laws. Station No. 8 was routinely supplied with poor and used equipment. [LBA: Smith] When answering calls outside their community, they faced threats, insults, and even people who would refuse their services until White firefighters arrived. [LBA: Smith] The racism was ingrained in the local government as well. Black firefighters in Arlington were not allowed to serve in stations outside of Station 8 although Whites could serve anywhere. Furthermore, they were often not called to respond to more significant events, including being asked to stay at the station during the riots in DC that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, despite every other station in Arlington responding. [ARL Library] Station No. 8 firefighter Carrol Deskins was even threatened with dismissal by Congressman Joel T. Broyhill because his son was scheduled to become one of four African American students to attend Virginia’s first integrated school, Stratford Jr. High. [ARL Library]

The 1934 and 1963 Fire Station No. 8 buildings were more than just fire stations to the underserved Hall’s Hill community. With few community spaces available, they became de facto community centers and meeting spaces. Saundra Green remembers that the first telephone in the neighborhood where you could make or receive calls was at the fire station, along with the first coke machine, a favorite for local kids. [LBA: Green] A social program for older adults originated there, and Boy Scouts and youth clubs were held in the community rooms. Since the youth in the neighborhood were not allowed in the local segregated theaters, firefighters would have movie nights projecting on the walls and serving popcorn and candy. [LBA: Moore] During segregation and through the civil rights movement, the fire station was the place to go and hear the latest news and political information. It also became the community safe haven. Maurgarite Gooden remembers that teens in Hall’s Hill all knew that if they ever got into trouble or were being chased in nearby neighborhoods, all they had to do was get to Fire Station No. 8, and they would take care of them. [LBA: Gooden]

A Legacy Nearly Lost

1929 Fire truck used by Station No. 8 during the mid-1950s

Despite its rich history and deep ties to the Hall’s Hill community, Station No. 8 faced the threat of closure starting in the early 2000s. The Arlington County Manager’s office conducted studies around traffic issues and response times for Station No. 8, given its location along the often-busy Langston Boulevard (then Lee Highway). [Mongilio] By 2014, the Arlington Fire Chief earmarked Station No. 8 for possible “relocation, consolidation, replacement or closure” based on the findings of the studies. [ARL Library] Plans began to move the station north to a county-owned property near George Mason University, with no notice or input from the Hall’s Hill community. [Smith] The community only learned of the plan when the leader of the civic association in the neighborhood for the proposed new station called the leader of the John M Langston Civic Association in Hall’s Hill to let them know of the county's plan. [LBA: Green]

The John M. Langston Civic Association, like many of the associations along Langston Boulevard, has a very active and dedicated membership. Their reaction to the county’s plan was overwhelming. Local resident Saundra Green states, "The civic association went berserk and immediately met with the County Board.” [LBA: Green] Locals were incensed that they had not been informed of the process and highly suspected the study findings and closure plans hid ulterior motives. [LBA: Smith] Pressure from the community continued even as the County Board created a task force to review the study findings. After numerous meetings and input from the community, the task force recommended against relocating the station. [LBA: Smith] The plan became to build a new, larger, more modern station on the current site. The task force also ensured that there was community input and engagement throughout the planning and design so that historic ties to the cultural heritage of the Langston Boulevard communities were not lost.

Historic photos courtesy of Arlington County Library