T. J. Moore
fire company officer, Ocean City · active 1939
Appeared for the Ocean City fire company at the council meetings of 17 January, 21 February and 18 April 1939, over the repair of the thirteen-year-old No. 1 truck and then the purchase of its replacement.
In the record (1)
1939 · 1939-04-18
From 1939 the telephone operator in Ocean City could set off the fire alarm herself
The minute of 18 April 1939: 'Ordinance passed to have C&P Telephone Co put in alarm plug in in Central office so operator could set off alarm.' On 3 March the council had resolved to buy a new American LaFrance Foamite pumper for $8,500 and the old truck, in three annual payments; notes for $2,833 each were signed by the mayor and treasurer on 23 May, the machine to start 1 July at 6 per cent. In December the town granted the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company a franchise ordinance for its poles and conduits, section 3 of which reserved space on one crossarm or in one duct, free of charge, 'for the purpose of carrying wires of any fire alarm or police telegraph system owned and maintained by said City'.
Fourteen years after the fire that took the downtown, Ocean City's fire alarm finally stopped depending on somebody running to it. The town put the switch in the one building that was staffed all night and never closed - and then wrote free wire-space for it into the telephone company's franchise, which is a small town making certain the thing can never be taken away.
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone CompanyAmerican LaFrance Foamite Inc.Harold J. RayneArchie Davis
Source · checked 2026-08-11