The Journey of a 1920 American LaFrance Fire Truck
Have you ever wondered what happened to your first vehicle? The following is an amazing story of what happened to a 1920 American LaFrance Fire Truck that was delivered new to the City of Salisbury, NC in August of 1920 and how the town of Coats is part of their story. The fascinating story was shared with the Coats Museum by Paul Brown who learned of the journey from Carl Meadows Greenson, Sr. who told him the story of the ownership during a phone conversation that occurred on August 29, 1996.
The fire truck was Type 75 Foamite, Triple Combination (chemical, hose and pumper) and was placed in service in 1920 as Unit Number 1. How appreciative the folks in Salisbury must have been when Mayor Waverly B. Strachan (1919-1923), Chairman of the Fire Committee J.G. Crowder and volunteer Fire Chief W.A. Brown celebrated this addition for the city of Salisbury. Volunteer W.A. Brown served as chief from 1908-1937.
One must admit that was quite a purchase in 1920 for $8,500. At that time period, the 520 Coats citizens were fighting their raging fires with a cone shaped bucket that was filled with water from wooden water troughs placed throughout the town. One can understand why many houses and businesses were burned to ashes despite the bucket brigades.
Let’s follow the ownership of the 1920 American LaFrance fire truck that stayed in service at Station # 1 until the early 1940’s and was then moved to Station #2 in the Chestnut Hill area on South Main Street in Salisbury. Bigger and better robbed our little 1920 LaFrance fire truck of its important role so it was mainly used to back-up units responding to silent alarms.
Paul Brown, great grandson of Fire Chief W.A. Brown, shared documents with the Coats Museum that the American LaFrance fire truck was sold to the town of Coats, NC in 1954. It was driven 134 miles to reach Coats that had established a Coats Fire Department with 13 Charter members. The truck was in service at the Fire Department until 1960 when it was sold it to the 3rd owner- the Fuquay Rural Fire Department which was 16 miles away.
The Fuquay Rural Fire Department kept the truck in service from 1960-1964 after which they sold it to the #4 owner who was a Salvage dealer who later sold it for less than $400 to Carl Meadows Greenson, Sr. of Fayetteville in 1964. Number #5 Greenson started it with jumper cables, put tags on it and drove it 40 miles to Fayetteville. The owner of Hennis Truck Lines, Shirley Mitchell of Winston Salem, was owner #6.
Mr. Mitchell sent a flat bed truck to Fayetteville to transport the fire truck to Winston Salem where he used it for Christmas parades and as a promotional piece during his terminal openings for Hennis Truck Lines.
The fire truck was auctioned off and Darryl’s Restaurant owned it from1976-1985 as the #7 owner. It was placed in the new Darryl’s Restaurant in Knoxville, TN. The truck was painted by two members of the Knoxville Fire Department and had Salisbury and 1920 lettered on the hood. The truck was driven to the construction site and Darryl’s Restaurant was built around it. The hose bed would become the seating for the patrons to enjoy their meal.
Darryl sold the restaurant to the #8 owner, Houlihan Restaurant Group. The truck was transferred as an artifact to the new owners. In 1994, Houlihan Restaurant Group decided to remodel to allow for more seating. This included the removal of the fire truck. Paul Brown was made aware of the situation by a fellow fire truck enthusiast. Once it was validated that this indeed was the 1920 American LaFrance, Brown was interested. The #9 owner Frank Ensley, Jr. made a deal with the manager and Ensley along with four others took the truck completely apart and was taken out of the restaurant piece by piece through a 32” person door when the restaurant was closed to customers.
It took two years before Paul Brown was successful in acquiring the fire truck in January of 1996 from Ensley in Knoxville. Through networking, a deal was made for Paul Brown to buy the fire truck for $2,200. The next day Paul Brown and two other gentlemen drove to Knoxville in a 24’ box truck, a pickup with a 16’ trailer and a Suburban to load the fire truck. When they arrived, they found the truck parts scattered all around the property, in buildings and in the yard.
Story will be continued later to see if Paul Brown was able to reassemble the 1920 American LaFrance fire truck that was used in the Coats Grove area as the second owner of the truck.
Have you ever wondered what happened to your first vehicle? The following is an amazing story of what happened to a 1920 American LaFrance Fire Truck that was delivered new to the City of Salisbury, NC in August of 1920 and how the town of Coats is part of their story. The fascinating story was shared with the Coats Museum by Paul Brown who learned of the journey from Carl Meadows Greenson, Sr. who told him the story of the ownership during a phone conversation that occurred on August 29, 1996.
The fire truck was Type 75 Foamite, Triple Combination (chemical, hose and pumper) and was placed in service in 1920 as Unit Number 1. How appreciative the folks in Salisbury must have been when Mayor Waverly B. Strachan (1919-1923), Chairman of the Fire Committee J.G. Crowder and volunteer Fire Chief W.A. Brown celebrated this addition for the city of Salisbury. Volunteer W.A. Brown served as chief from 1908-1937.
One must admit that was quite a purchase in 1920 for $8,500. At that time period, the 520 Coats citizens were fighting their raging fires with a cone shaped bucket that was filled with water from wooden water troughs placed throughout the town. One can understand why many houses and businesses were burned to ashes despite the bucket brigades.
Let’s follow the ownership of the 1920 American LaFrance fire truck that stayed in service at Station # 1 until the early 1940’s and was then moved to Station #2 in the Chestnut Hill area on South Main Street in Salisbury. Bigger and better robbed our little 1920 LaFrance fire truck of its important role so it was mainly used to back-up units responding to silent alarms.
Paul Brown, great grandson of Fire Chief W.A. Brown, shared documents with the Coats Museum that the American LaFrance fire truck was sold to the town of Coats, NC in 1954. It was driven 134 miles to reach Coats that had established a Coats Fire Department with 13 Charter members. The truck was in service at the Fire Department until 1960 when it was sold it to the 3rd owner- the Fuquay Rural Fire Department which was 16 miles away.
The Fuquay Rural Fire Department kept the truck in service from 1960-1964 after which they sold it to the #4 owner who was a Salvage dealer who later sold it for less than $400 to Carl Meadows Greenson, Sr. of Fayetteville in 1964. Number #5 Greenson started it with jumper cables, put tags on it and drove it 40 miles to Fayetteville. The owner of Hennis Truck Lines, Shirley Mitchell of Winston Salem, was owner #6.
Mr. Mitchell sent a flat bed truck to Fayetteville to transport the fire truck to Winston Salem where he used it for Christmas parades and as a promotional piece during his terminal openings for Hennis Truck Lines.
The fire truck was auctioned off and Darryl’s Restaurant owned it from1976-1985 as the #7 owner. It was placed in the new Darryl’s Restaurant in Knoxville, TN. The truck was painted by two members of the Knoxville Fire Department and had Salisbury and 1920 lettered on the hood. The truck was driven to the construction site and Darryl’s Restaurant was built around it. The hose bed would become the seating for the patrons to enjoy their meal.
Darryl sold the restaurant to the #8 owner, Houlihan Restaurant Group. The truck was transferred as an artifact to the new owners. In 1994, Houlihan Restaurant Group decided to remodel to allow for more seating. This included the removal of the fire truck. Paul Brown was made aware of the situation by a fellow fire truck enthusiast. Once it was validated that this indeed was the 1920 American LaFrance, Brown was interested. The #9 owner Frank Ensley, Jr. made a deal with the manager and Ensley along with four others took the truck completely apart and was taken out of the restaurant piece by piece through a 32” person door when the restaurant was closed to customers.
It took two years before Paul Brown was successful in acquiring the fire truck in January of 1996 from Ensley in Knoxville. Through networking, a deal was made for Paul Brown to buy the fire truck for $2,200. The next day Paul Brown and two other gentlemen drove to Knoxville in a 24’ box truck, a pickup with a 16’ trailer and a Suburban to load the fire truck. When they arrived, they found the truck parts scattered all around the property, in buildings and in the yard.
Story will be continued later to see if Paul Brown was able to reassemble the 1920 American LaFrance fire truck that was used in the Coats Grove area as the second owner of the truck.