YorkFire.Net

by Randy Keeney

During 1837 the Village of New Paradise, in Springfield Township, had its humble beginnings at the crossroads of the present-day North Main Street and Water Street in Jacobus. Before the State highway system and long before the Federal interstate system the main road between York and Baltimore was known as the York to Baltimore Turnpike.

New Paradise was located five miles south of York and a day's journey from Baltimore. This made it about the halfway point between Harrisburg and Baltimore. Thus, traveling from Baltimore, New Paradise made the perfect place to stop, to rest, feed and water your horses, or to switch your horse team. It also provided a location for a meal and accommodation for an overnight stay. By 1880 the Village had grown to include 30 residences, various businesses to include a hotel, wagon shop, general store, blacksmith, cigar factories, and churches. The hotel still stands today on the northwest corner of Water Street and North Main Street as a private residence.

Name Change to Jacobus

As the population and Village grew it became essential to establish a post office, which was in a general store operated by Jacob Geiselman. While the name of the Post Office was New Paradise as was the Village, many people began dropping the "New" and using just Paradise when addressing mail. This caused confusion with mail being delivered to Paradise in Lancaster County PA. (which was older). The York postmaster was sent to correct the problem by the U.S. Postal Service. When the York postmaster and Jacob could not come up with a new name, the York postmaster took Jacob's name an added US (United States) to it to rename the Post Office JACOBUS. The date of the name change from New Paradise to Jacobus for both the post office and village has been lost to history. In 1929 Jacobus was incorporated as a Borough. The locals pronounced Jacobus as "Jay-co-bus".

Good Will Fire Company of New Paradise

On July 13, 1879, the Good Will Fire Company of New Paradise was organized with D. M. Loucks as the first president. 1879 is recorded as the year the Company began formally and consistently meeting on a regular basis according to the Company minute books. The year 1878 is found on the first few pages of the first minute book and newspaper articles dealing with the manufacture, testing, and acceptance of the hand engine. Apparently, it took the Goodwill lads a little time to officially get the Company headed in the right direction.

The Good Will Fire Company would become the seventh volunteer fire company in York County. The Borough of York had the Laurel, Vigilant, Union, and Rescue fire companies, the Village of Freystown in East York had the Goodwill fire company, and the Borough of Hanover had the Hanover Fire Company No. 1.

1878 Hand Engine

In 1878 the A.B. Farquhar Company of York, PA was contracted to build a hand engine for New Paradise with Good Will painted on both sides in large letters. There are no records on whom contracted the building of the apparatus or its cost.

The hand engine is still in possession of the fire company. The only difference is that the running carriage gear and wheels were removed in 1936 and the hand pumper was mounted on a 1925 model "T" chassis.

On July 5, 1878, it was reported in the York Daily, the following events:

"Yesterday afternoon the new hand engine, built at A B Farquhar's machine shops on north Duke St. for the citizens of New Paradise, Springfield Township, was completed and sent to its destination. It is well finished, and the Name "Good Will" is beautifully lettered on both sides of the apparatus. We hope it may be a long while before the "Good Will" will need be put into service at its new home."

During July 1878 the hand engine was delivered and tested throwing a stream of water over the New Paradise Evangelical church steeple and a parade was held accepting the new hand engine with delegations from the Union #3 and Rescue #4 fire companies from York in attendance.

The first recorded fire that the hand engine attended was on January 26, 1892. Around midnight on Tuesday the cry of FIRE was heard as fire was first spotted coming from the New Paradise Hotel stable owned by E.D. Myers. The fire then extended to a barn at the rear of Alex Diehl's store. The fire also destroyed the hotel icehouse and the shed that the Good Will engine was stored in. A bucket brigade and the hand engine were used to halt the fire while a call for help was being telegraphed to York for assistance. As there was no water supply in the village for the city apparatus to use it was decided by city officials not to respond. This location would be at the at the current intersection of Water Street and Cherry Lane (an alley).

It would seem up until this time, 13-14 years since the hand engine arrived and the Company was organized, there were no fires of any consequence (or newspaper worthy) in or around the village.

On January 29th and 30th after the recent fire in the village, meetings were held in the office of Emanuel S. Myers, the local blacksmith. Concerned businessmen, citizens, and Good Will members decided to reorganize the Company. It was decided to collect dues of $1.00 for membership, purchase two ladders, one 22-foot and one 20-foot, six fire hooks of various lengths, and build a proper engine house since the shed storing the hand engine had been destroyed in the earlier fire. Thus, the earlier fire jump started the Good Will lads into action!

1982 Goodwill Engine House

A two-story engine house was constructed by the Company. This allowed space on the 1st floor for the fire apparatus and the 2nd floor to hold meetings and social activities. This also allowed the 2nd floor to be rented out to various organizations to raise funds and defray the building costs.

There is no mention of the actual construction of the engine house in the Company minute books during this time frame. There is mentioned at numerous meetings that the members were providing the labor for the most part and building materials were donated or bought by the members who were later reimbursed and/or had their dues paid for a life membership given in exchange. Following a rough time frame from various notations in the minutes the engine house was built and apparently finished in approximately 45 days.

On June 6, 1892, Whit Monday, (Pentecost Monday) dedication ceremonies were held in the new engine house. The Goodwill firemen of East York attended along with other dignitaries while the membership held two parades with plenty of music to celebrate the occasion. The engine house was located where the present driveway of 53 North Main Street is next to Grey Beards Antiques store. The engine house was torn down in the 1950s when the present fire station was built at 1 South Main Street.

Goodwill fireman and the hand engine were called into action again on the night of Tuesday, October 4, 1892, when the newly rebuilt barns from the January 1892 fire were once again destroyed by an incendiary fire. The hand engine performed good service on the first barn behind Diehl's store, but the well supplying water went dry, and the hand engine began receiving water from a rain hogshead. Dirt and muck clogged the suction pump and rendered the engine useless. By the time the suction was cleared on the engine a total of three barns were destroyed. The fire was incendiary in nature as it was found that coal oil had been spread around to aid in the spread of the fire. A suspect was identified and later arrested by a York constable and remanded to the city jail. The disposition of the case is unknown.

The next recorded fire that the hand engine responded to was on the Saturday afternoon February 6, 1898, around 3:00 pm when a fire was discovered in Pius Olp's cigar factory located approximately a half-mile from village of Jacobus. This would be just west of 27 Valley Road today. The Company responded, but it was too late as the building had already burnt to the ground.

Motorization

As with most volunteer organizations interest is sporadic, and Goodwill was no exception. Between 1916-1921 few meetings were held and during 1919-1920 no minutes can be found. This could be on account of World War I. During 1921 we find the Company reorganizing and apparently this group of officers and members were a little more committed to seeing the Company thrive and continue up to the present day.

In May 1925 approval was given to purchase the first motorized fire apparatus. A 1925 American La France 4-tank chemical engine on a Ford Model "T" chassis was purchased for $2,500.00. Up until this time the Company had operated with the 1878 hand engine built by the A.B. Farquhar Co. and another smaller hand pumper purchased in 1895. During 1929 it was ordered that if the hand engine was to be taken out of town it first must be loaded onto a truck.

During 1936 a new Ford chassis was purchased, the local blacksmith shop moved the 1925 ALF chemical apparatus to the new chassis. Once this was completed the running carriage gear and wheels were removed from the 1878 hand engine and the body was mounted onto the 1925 Model "T" chassis. Thus, the 1878 hand engine became a motorized hand pumper.

The Goodwill now had an up to date 1936 Ford 4-tank chemical engine to respond as the first out apparatus to alarms and a 1925 Ford Model "T" with a 1878 hand pumper as a backup apparatus. The 1878 hand pumper served the fire company until 1946. It is still in the possession of the Goodwill Fire Company, and can still be seen occasionally attending parades and musters.

 

Any additions, corrections and/or comments are welcomed.