This building was built in 1951 as the headquarters for the Roslyn Highlands Hook & Ladder, Engine & Hose Company #1. It stands on the site of the original firehouse built in 1907. The Headquarters was moved to a much larger firehouse on Warner Avenue in 1986. The building is now the home of the The Roslyn Synagogue. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The history of the Roslyn Highlands Hook & Ladder, Engine and Hose Company #1 is provided on its website:

At the beginning of the 20th Century small towns and cities alike were noticing a need for fire protection in their areas. Big cities were changing from volunteer departments to the paid ones they have today. Roslyn Heights was no different in this ever-changing world. Roslyn Heights, which was known as the Highlands, was a small community located just south of the village of Roslyn. A small group of citizens decided it was time the people living "up the hill" had its own fire protection. Roslyn Highlands was being developed and growing into a community of its own. The principal credit that was given for initiating the movement belonged to Henry L. Atwood, Frank Cody, Station Agent, and Monroe S. Wood, the Town Clerk.

On the evening of October 9, 1905, this group of citizens met at Atwoods Hall to organize a Fire Company. The proposition to establish the new Company was not met with universal encouragement; however, these men, along with 20 others, completed the formalities of incorporation and became “The Roslyn Highlands Hook and Ladder, Engine and Hose Company.”

The new Company had an organization, however, they had to provide it with apparatus and a firehouse. The only funds available were contributions by the members and their friends. There were no regular funds allotted to the Company in the form of fire taxes, as there are today. The only water supply came from wells or cisterns. For the first few months, weekly meetings were held, and the membership grew rapidly. The meeting place was designated at Atwoods Hall, which was on the now non-existent southern end of Railroad Avenue. This area is now operated by the Town of North Hempstead and is used as a parking lot on the west side of Roslyn’s Long Island Railroad Station.

Committees were formed and the members began addressing the countless problems that lay ahead. Obtaining apparatus, equipment, uniforms, creating a treasury, and locating property for a firehouse were on the top of the list. Money was raised by the membership in many ways for these ventures. An initiation fee of two dollars was required with each application; monthly dues were 25 cents per member.

The subscription committee started raising donations from the community. The Company held dinners, picnics, dances, card parties, and other forms of profitable entertainment. Soon they had raised over $700 to begin the treasury. Membership was also growing rapidly. 33 new members were accepted at the December 1905 meeting. The apparatus committee visited several fire companies in the New York area to purchase a used fire pump. The committee finally agreed to purchase a horse-drawn chemical engine for $1000 from Chemical Engine Company No. 6 of West Brighton, Staten Island. The Treasurer, Theodore S. Valentine, gave his personal check to purchase the apparatus pending the formal action of the Company. The Company decided to house this engine at Atwoods Hall.

The Company realized that they were fighting fires without a firehouse for long enough. In May of 1906, three lots on the northwest corner of Garden Street and Saint Marks Place were being considered for purchase. The members had difficulty acquiring this land because the owners would not sell to the Fire Company. Finally one of the members, Mr. Lambert, purchased the property, sold it to Mr. Birdsall, another member, and he in turn sold it to the Fire Company for $605.

Fighting fires and responding to alarms have come a long way since the early days of the Company. Upon receipt of a fire alarm, the first arriving member to the firehouse was to strike a suspended piece of rounded railroad rail with a hammer for ten minutes to alert the remaining membership. The next group of firemen commandeered the first team of horses they could find and hitched them to the fire engine to respond to the fire. The owner of the horses was paid $5 for the Company’s use of the team. In 1909, the railroad rail was replaced with a bell purchased from the Woodhouse Co. This bell now hangs in the tower of the present firehouse. In 1923, the current siren replaced the bell to alert members.

The Roslyn Water District was founded in 1910, and a water supply for fire fighting soon followed. In 1913, the Town of North Hempstead contracted with the Company to provide fire protection for $700 a year. A motorized Garford engine was purchased in 1916; followed by a Stutz in 1925 and a Seagrave in 1929.

The Fire Company tried for years to expand the building but WWI and WWII made expansion difficult. The original firehouse was demolished and a new building was constructed in 1951. It contained 2 bays and a larger meeting room. In 1958, two more bays were added. Additional property was acquired in East Hills 1964 for the addition of a substation. During this time, the apparatus were upgraded and new, state of the art, equipment was added.

During the 1970s the Fire Company recognized a need to provide Emergency Medical Services to the community. The Highlands, along with Roslyn Rescue, have since been offering pre-hospital care to citizens of the Roslyn Fire District.

The 1980s brought more changes, the Company initiated steps to acquire new or additional property for its headquarters. Property was purchased from Urban Renewal on the east side of Saint Marks Place between Warner Avenue and Garden Street, directly adjacent to the Company’s original location. On May 17, 1986, a new, larger headquarters was dedicated. The designers of the new building received Architectural awards for this design of the Company’s current Headquarters. Other developments soon followed, the second floor was expanded, and a fifth truck bay was added. Station 2 was also extended to allow for larger pieces of equipment.

In 2012, the outdated Station 2 in East Hills was demolished and rebuilt to accommodate newer, more modern equipment. A state of the art communication and dispatch center was added that can operate as a backup to Nassau County Firecom for Roslyn and surrounding departments.

During its existence, the Fire Company has responded to numerous major fires in the district as well as assisting other communities. The Avianca plane crash, the Bayville Northeaster, the Suffolk County wildfires, the World Trade Center on 9/11/01, and Hurricane Sandy have been just some of the alarms in which the Company has led or assisted with search & rescue and fire suppression efforts. Numerous unit citations, individual awards, as well as parade and drill trophies have been awarded to the Company over the years.

Today, The Roslyn Highlands Hook and Ladder, Engine and Hose Company has an active, all volunteer, membership of 115 members. These men and women spend countless hours in training and drills to provide the community with the best in fire and emergency services.

The Roslyn Highlands have come a long way since those men incorporated the Fire Company in 1905. With the skill and determination of these volunteer firefighters it is assured that the same high quality of protection will be constant for years to come.

The original firehouse on the site (circa 1907).

Photographer William Pickering's children posed with the Roslyn Highlands firemen on a horse-drawn cart purchased for $1,000 in 1905.

1955

Circa 1962

Circa 1970