Exhibit To Show How City Was Kept Safe in the Old Days

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Images: 1956 Memorial Day parade; the city’s first ambulance; Manassas Volunteer Fire Department, 1948.

Release: The Manassas Museum

“Protecting Manassas,” a new exhibit at the Manassas Museum, will debut at 6 p.m. Friday, May 1, with fire, rescue and police equipment and demonstrations. Refreshments will be served as visitors peruse the history of public safety in the city.

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Back when Manassas was a quiet little town, seeing a funeral hearse pull up in your driveway was not a cause for alarm. It meant that help had arrived.

Before the Manassas Volunteer Rescue Squad was established in 1966, it was the Baker Funeral Home that answered emergency calls and transported patients to the nearest hospital in Alexandria. This surprising story is one of many in the new Manassas Museum exhibit, “Protecting Manassas.”

The exhibit focuses on the evolution of the police and the fire and rescue squads in Manassas from those humble beginnings, when citizens answered the call for all manner of emergencies. The exhibit coincides with the World Police and Fire Games taking place this summer in Northern Virginia.

Long before volunteers or professionals responded to fires, citizens would run to the Railroad Depot, grab water buckets and ladders, and help put out fires. The Town Sergeant, armed with nothing more than a nightstick, would respond to every drunken brawl and accident, as well as collect taxes. As the town grew into a city, its emergency services grew as well.

As volunteers and professionals in the fire, rescue and police departments gained training and up-to-date equipment, their jobs became even more demanding.

“Our fire, rescue and police personnel run into a building when others run out,” said Mayor Harry J. Parrish II. “It is that courage and compassion for others that helps keep this city safe and well protected.”

It was not until the 1950s that the police and fire departments really started to change into what we are familiar with today. The fire services were all-volunteer for the longest time, and Manassas was really fortunate to have such dedicated citizens providing these services.

“I hope visitors and residents will come out for this exhibit,” said City Manager W. Patrick Pate. “Our police, and fire and rescue staff, are top in their field and our volunteers are some of the most dedicated people I’ve met.”

“Protecting Manassas” is open through July 15 and is included with admission to the Museum.