Changing history | Remembering Virginia Beach’s Station 12, one of the first Black-owned fire departments in the United States – 13newsnow.com WVEC

Historical records show it's believed to be one of the first fire stations in the country that was owned and operated entirely by African Americans.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. In 1948, a group of African American men changed the course of local Black history in Princess Anne County, what is now currently the City of Virginia Beach.

These men stood up. They took the challenge to support themselves," local historian Edna Hawkins-Hendrix told 13News Now.

After World War II, more than a dozen men came together to form the Seatack Volunteer Fire Department to serve the Seatack area of the county, then a thriving African American community. The intended goal was to not rely on other white fire stations in the area and save on a $50 fee that a nearby Virginia Beach fire station charged for calls outside the Beach Borough.

Based on historical records of the station's history, it's believed to be one of the first fire stations in the country that was owned and operated entirely by African Americans.

Hawkins-Hendrix says what makes Station 12 stand out is that it was not only staffed by Black firefighters, but they were also in charge of the station, too.

The City of Norfolk had a fire station manned by African Americans, but the city owned it. The city owned that particular fire station," Hawkins-Hendrix said.

She added that historical milestones like this at the local level, are just as important as more well-known national stories from the Civil Rights era.

It is one of the earliest Black-owned fire stations in the United States. I will say 'among,' just in case another comes up.

Catch the full piece of history, on 13News Now this Thursday at 6.

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Changing history | Remembering Virginia Beach's Station 12, one of the first Black-owned fire departments in the United States - 13newsnow.com WVEC