Chesapeake Va Fire Stations

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Great Bridge VFD was organized in the late 40s, with the original station opening in 1948 on Reservation Rd, about 2.5 miles away from the current station. This station was a joint effort of the Army Corp of Engineers and Norfolk County. I’m unsure of the Norfolk County company number as the numbers were changed after consolidation.



The Army Corp of Engineers donated the land (Worth $35,000 then) and the County built the building (10,000 dollars, and this was a nice station for that era!)



This station sits on what is arguably one of the coolest plots of land occupied at any time by any fire company in Virginia, and thus the reason The Corp of Engineers was involved. The Station property backs up to the old Chesapeake and Albemarle canal, then and now part of The Intracoastral Waterway. You can stand behind the building and look to the left at the Great Bridge Locks, and to the right (Only about 100 or so yards away if that) at the drawbridge carrying Battlefield Blvd across the canal.



   



I ended up spending about 2 hours here, between old Station 5, the traffic on the canal (I got there only a few minutes before a scheduled bridge lift) and Great Bridge Locks park.

I have a feeling that this will be a fairly regular road trip when the weather gets warmer.



The Great Bridge area has another claim to fame as well. The Battle of Great Bridge…the first revolutionary War battle to be fought on Virginia Soil…was fought just north of the present day Intracoastal Waterway.