Fire Dep't., Veterans & Service Organizations

Breslau Feuer Wehr organized on November 29, 1877, with 4 sections: engine, hook & ladder, hose, & watchman.  In 1882, Feuer Wehr reorganized as Breslau Engine Company #1, & in 1885, it joined Liberty Hose Company #1 & Union Hook & Ladder Company #1 to form the Breslau Fire Department.  The name "Lindenhurst Fire Department" was not adopted until 1909.  Pictured is the Liberty Hose Company's West John Street headquarters in the 1890's.

Liberty Hose Company #1 is pictured with its newly acquired hose cart in 1910.  That year, Decoration Day exercises were announced in the  South Side Signal, including "A test of the new hose apparatus...in front of Liberty Hose Company & every effort will be made to make the test through.  A large quantity of new hose has arrived & the work of enlarging Liberty Hose headquarters (Wellwood Avenue) is progressing quickly."

The Lindenhurst Hook & Ladder Running Team in 1906 competed at the annual Suffolk County Volunteer Firemen's Association tournament in Greenport.  That year, the department jubilantly returned home "with 4 prizes - 2nd prize, Hook & Ladder #1, 3rd prize, Hose #2, 1st prize hand engine, & 2nd prize in ladder scaling contest, Frank Seegott the nimble climber taking 2nd place after tying for 1st," according to the September 15 South Side Signal. 

The arrival of a new horse-truck at the Union Hook & Ladder firehouse was met with celebration, & the firehouse was decorated with flags & flowers.  The August 19, 1882, South Side Signal reported, :The Breslau Brass Band 'hove in sight', & Union Truck Company, headed by the band, paraded through the village.  Torches blazed & large numbers followed...to Gleste's Hall, where the music struck up & the firemen & their guests participated in the giddy waltz."

In 1891, the Breslau Engine company supplemented its hand-powered apparatus by purchasing its 1st steam engine, "Lady Warren", for $800.  The 'old reliable steamer' was retired & sold in 1912.  The South Side Signal proclaimed, " 'Lady Warren' has been an important factor in the saving of many buildings in Lindenhurst during the last decade, & came into much prominence 3 years ago when one of the asylums at Amityville was threatened by fire."

Edward & Flore Gleste's Wellwood Avenue home was destroyed by fire on June 20, 1914, along with that of neighbors Frederick & Anna Kienle, 5 barns, & a windmill.  George Gleste lost his 2nd fireman's uniform in the house fire, having lost his 1st uniform 2 years prior in the Gleste Hotel fire of 1912.  The brick bank building reportedly acted as a fire wall, keeping the fire from spreading, as can be seen in this picture.

In May, 1922, the fire department elected to build a new headquarters on the site of the old Liberty Hose Company firehouse on South Wellwood Avenue.  The following year, the department sold the West John Street property to St. John's Lutheran Church, sold the old Liberty Hose firehouse, which was moved by Dittman Bros. to South 1st Street, & broke ground for its new headquarters.  The May 25, 1924, New York Times reported that "The new $100,000 Lindenhurst Fire Department building on Wellwood Avenue was formally dedicated & opened for inspection today, following a parade of the firemen through the street with the 6 pieces of apparatus.  Addresses were made in front of the new building by Fire Chief Joseph J. Schmitt & Village President Gustav Hahn.  The building is a 2-story brick &  marble structure & is equipped with all modern facilities.  On the upper floor are pool tables & a recreation room for the firemen."  The historic firehouse, pictured in 1927, was razed in 2013 for construction of enlarged headquarters on the site.  The small structure immediately to the right of the firehouse was the original police station & village hall, eventually becoming the 1st village museum.  In 2013, it was moved to the Irmisch Triangle Park on Broadway where it is undergoing renovation to continue serving as a museum.

Prussian-born Charles F. Pluemacher immigrated to the United States in 1857 at 20 & fought for the Union in the 1862 Battle of Antietam.  He purchased a pocket watch after the war but sent it to the Virginia governor after discovering it was stolen from a dead Confederate soldier.  The watch is now with the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia.  Pluemacher (standing 4th from left) joined Adam Wirth Post #451 of the Grand Army of the Republic, pictured in 1910.  He later moved to North 4th Street & was the last local Civil War soldier to pass away.  Pluemacher had a factory producing tuning forks & acoustic instruments at College Point.  Known for his remarkably trained ear, Pluemacher was sought by Kaiser Wilhelm II to train German soldiers in projectile velocity identification prior to World War I; he refused the kaiser's offer.

On New Year's Day, 1918, a dedication ceremony was held for the national flag & a service flag honoring the 49 local servicemen.  Before a group of over 500 people, 91-year-old Civil War veteran Conrad Pfurr raised the flags on a new 85-foot flagpole known as the Liberty Pole at the railroad station.  A committee chaired by George Pebler, formed just 2 months prior, raised funds by hosting a vaudeville show at Washington Hall.

The Liberty Loan Committee of Lindenhurst, pictured in 1918, sold Liberty war bonds for the Allied cause during World War I.  The local committee, chaired by Alfred A. Arnold, more than doubled its $29,000 quota, raising $63,100.  The campaign concluded with an automobile parade through the village that culminated with the raising of an honor flag at the Liberty Pole.  Factories were asked to close in time for the parade.

To raise further funds for the war effort, the Victory Loan Committee held a whippet tank exhibition on May 5, 1919.  The South Side Signal announced, "factories & school will close & everybody will join in the demonstration.  (Louis) W. Irmisch has given permission to allow the tank to dive in the old Gleste hotel cellar (the hotel, at the southwest cornet of Wellwood & Hoffman Avenues, had burned in 1912 & been demolished)....Scoutmaster Robert Wild will have his boys on the job to perform anything necessary to promote enthusiasm.  J.P. Warta will have charge of the musical features &...there will be a big rally at the school assembly hall." 

The South Side Signal later reported that "the tank was escorted thru the streets by the Victory Loan committee, boy scouts & other citizens.  The tank went in & out of the Gleste cellar at the corner & also showed off in the woods near the Bartholet home.  Following a war veteran's speech, $35,000 was subscribed."

In January 1919, the Honor Roll Committee formed to erect a memorial recognizing Lindenhurst servicemen of the Great War.  By that Summer, the committee had raised $1,500 toward the $2,500 project through community donations, moving picture shows, & dances.  To complete its goal, a 2-day carnival benefit was organized with booths supported by local groups, including Scouts & Court Lindenhurst, Foresters of America.  Reporting that the Vulcanite Manufacturing & Lindenhurst Manufacturing Companies had each donated $100 to the fund, the South Side Signal declared, "All arrangements have been completed for the carnival, which will open with a monster parade starting from the fire headquarters....There will be all kinds of attractions & amusements with dancing in the afternoon & evening."   

Construction of the World War One monument plaza is pictured on October 29,1919, showing the pouring of the concrete at the monument site, in the middle of Wellwood Avenue south of Hoffman Avenue.

The WWI monument site, in the middle of Wellwood Avenue south of Hoffman Avenue, was a dirt street.  The Babylon Town Board directed highway superintendent William Wilmarth to lay a 150-foot concrete road on either side of the site.  The Honor Roll Committee took charge of placing curbs, & local merchants were encouraged to curb the front of their properties.  This appears to be the 1st concrete road through the downtown.

Dedication Day for the new World War One monument was Thanksgiving (November 27) 1919.  Grand marshal Charles Heling led the parade from the East John Street fire headquarters.  The memorial of Stony Creek granite stood 7 feet high, surmounted by a bronze eagle with its wings spread 4 feet.  The bronze plaque was inscribed with the names of 101 servicemen & 4 merchant marines.  A wreath was laid by Sgt. Warner Frevert to honor the 3 local soldiers killed in service. 

The board of trade issued a compliment & invitation to the monument committee.  The March 5, 1920 South Side Signal noted, "With the addition of this committee, a great majority of whom are women, to the membership of the Trade Board the Village can depend upon seeing many improvements in the near future for never in the history of the community did a committee meet more obstacles & accomplish bigger results than did the Honor Roll Committee."

Another view of the World War One Monument, ca. 1920.  The building behind, on the west side of Wellwood Avenue, currently houses the South Shore Theatre Experience.  The monument stands to this day & the village celebrated its centennial in November 2019.

An article from the November 28, 1919 Brooklyn Daily Eagle commemorates the completion of the World War One monument.

In December 1921, the Lindenhurst Board of Trade, the precursor to the chamber of commerce, gratefully accepted a 1,200-pound Gatling gun & carriage used during World War I, offered to the community by the War Department.  The name "Lindenhurst" was painted on the gun shield, & the retired weapon was placed in time for Memorial Day on a custom concrete base on the north side of Montauk Highway & Wellwood Avenue, where it remains.

Soon after the Honor Roll dedication, 38 local veterans organized the World War Veterans Club, electing John Blankenhorn the first commander.  They began fundraising for the erection of their clubhouse, & in 1924 bought the land at 185 North Broadway for $500, constructing the roughly 2,400-square-foot building which was dedicated on April 30, 1927, on the southwest corner of West John Street & Broadway.  The fortress-like building was designed by Harry G. Wichman & constructed by George F. Weierter & was finished in Magnesite stucco with a prominent watchtower & parapet.  The World War Veterans Club & Ladies Auxiliary were active in the community until the late 1990's & included World War II & Korean War veterans.  American Legion Post 1120 was formed in 1934, named Feustal-Kurdt Post in memory of Lindenhurst residents William Feustal & Martin Kurdt, killed in action during World War I.  Wade-Burns Post 7279, Veterans of Foreign Wars, was chartered in 1946.

By the 1950's there were more than 200 participants in the World War Veterans Club, but with membership limited to veterans of the 1st 2 World Wars, by the 1990's, the group had dwindled as building expenses rose.  In 1999, the club agreed to sell the building to Suffolk County & in 2019, the county agreed to a 19-year license agreement with the Knights of Columbus Council #794.  When the council took over the white stucco building in 2020, the downstairs was draped in cobwebs with a vine crawling in from the yard.  Renovations took several years, & the Knights of Columbus Council #794 officially moved into their new home in October, 2023.