Washington Engine Company, No. 1 became the second fire company to organize after the Town of Morristown received its charter in 1865, effectively replacing the old Morristown Fire Association. Under the cumbersome name of the Washington Steam Fire Engine Company, No. 1, the Board of Aldermen approved the formation of the company in September, 1867. Members' uniforms consisted of red shirts, black pants, belts and black fire hats with white lettering. This fashion was discarded in 1881 when the entire fire department decided upon regulation blue uniforms. Washington's roster allowed for sixty men. When an individual applied for formal membership, a small wooden box was put into use. As the box passed aroung the room, each member would send a ball through a slot in the box. A white ball signified a yes vote, a black ball denoted a nay. If three members voted no, the applicant was "blackballed" and denied entry to the company. In 1870, the town purchased a lot on Market Street and built new headquarters, where the company has remained for almost 140 years. From the outset, the Washies have shared these quarters--albeit separately in a sometimes odd arrangement--with Independent Hose Company, No. 1.

The early years of the company found a hardworking, but often contentious and raucous, group of members. There were accusations of fights occurring in the house, vandalism, overindulgence of liquor, sleeping in the parlor, singing and "raising the devil." In 1871, the company met total disgrace when it was discovered that member Gibson Kent hired men to set incendiary fires, usually on Saturday nights. Police discovered a mercenary motive. Kent's saloon was located adjacent to the fire house on Market Street; after fighting the fires, members would retire to Kent's bar and spend the evening drinking. Gibson Kent ended up in state prison and with the approval of the town council, the entire Washington Company was suspended in November, 1870. The door to their quarters remained padlocked until the unit reorganized with 14 new members who resumed duties in May, 1872. The Board of Engineers provided them $150 to furnish their quarters. A second embarrassing incident occurred in 1907 when a rash of arson fires was solved with the arrest of two Washington Company members, one of whom was caught attemping to set fire to the organization's own Market Street quarters.

To fight fires, the company originally used an old hand engine from the Newark Fire Department until the town council bought a more powerful engine in 1869. Members purchased a Clapp & Johnes steam engine from an Easton, Pennsylvania fire company in 1876. By 1900, the company numbered forty men and had acquired a new New American engine, nicknamed "The Giant." With better equipment and facilities, service to the community improved. An Ahrens-Fox piston pumper engine, purchased in 1918, served the company until after World War II when it was replaced by another Ahrens-Fox engine. In 1942, the organization formally changed its name from the Washington Steam Fire Engine Company, No. 1 to Washington Engine Company, No. 1.

Two distinguished members of the company stand out for their devotion and service to the department. After the town received its official charter in 1865, Richard M. Stites was appointed chief engineer to oversee the formation of the new fire department. An able administrator with an intuitive feel for firefighting, Stites put the new fire department on a firm basis by framing appropriate ordinances, obtaining workable equipment, and drafting volunteer companies. Stites served as chief engineer until 1875 and remained a member of the Washington Company throughout his career. John J. Cullinan joined the Washies in 1910. In 1923 he was selected to be the town's first professional paid fire chief. He served in that position until his retirement in 1953. He is largely credited with professionalizing the department by improving training methods and standards, and promoting good relations with the town government. As the 20th century progressed the town of Morristown focused greater funding and support upon its paid department. However volunteers and paid men continued to fight fires side by side and relations among the companies and the "Uniformed Fire Department" remained cooperative with little political interference. Most of the professional employees held membership in one of the local companies. Washington Engine Company continued to field as many as fifty men, and maintained, with some revamping, many of the popular social traditions of the past.

The latter half of the twentieth century brought economic and cultural changes to American society that transformed our nation's landscape in extraordinary ways and changed the course of volunteer organizations like Washington Engine Company. The affordable automobile, the post-World War II building boom and the lure of the suburbs combined to drain urban areas of its younger, able population who might have filled the ranks as older members retired. Training standards also changed. Men who joined the companies in earlier years gained their expertise with hands-on practice--watching and working with experienced senior men at fire scenes. Rookies occasionally would go to Newark or Jersey City and ride the fire trucks there to hone their skills. By the 1960s, fire fighters attended specific training classes at area fire houses and also received in-house training. Following the passage of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (P.L.93-498), the State of New Jersey began formalizing and thoroughly regulating training standards with comprehensive guidelines outlined in minute detail.

Volunteer fire companies in many towns became victims of the times. By the mid 1970s, the urban applicant pool had significantly diminished and of those that remained, few were willing to commit to the time and training required. At the same time, political maneuvers in Morristown soured relations among the volunteer companies, the paid department and the town. Many volunteers felt marginalized. Combine these factors with the era of the 1980s and 90s when Americans began to ratchet up the pace of their lives with little time left unaccounted, and the allure of the firehouse diminished.

In 1996 town inspectors determined that the floors of the Market Street building could no longer safely support a modern fire apparatus, so the fire trucks belonging to both the Washington and Independent companies were removed to the Speedwell Avenue firehouse. Currently the Washington unit keeps an E-ONE Pumper truck, although it is slated for replacement. As of 2007, the company is staffed with 24 members.

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- , 1872-1992.

- 1837-1864.

- Townley, John P. , 197-.

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- Bell, Augustus .