55.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Lynbrook's Tally-Ho Fire Company’s Centennial celebration
In the early 1900’s, the Tally-Ho Inn, a three-story restaurant/bar and rooming house, stood at the corner of Merrick Road, then called “Plank Road” for its wooden roadway, and Horton Avenue, in Lynbrook, on the border with Valley Stream. The “Tally-Ho” horse-drawn stagecoach from Jamaica made daily stops at the Inn.
In 1910, the Inn was destroyed by fire due to the lack of fire protection in the area. In 1911, eight community-minded residents from Lynbrook and Valley Stream got together to form a fire company to protect the western section of Lynbrook and eastern Valley Stream — thus, Tally-Ho Chemical Fire Engine Company 3 was formed. The company was incorporated by the State of New York on March 24, 1912. Its 100th anniversary is this Saturday.
Tally-Ho’s first fire engine was a four- wheeled chemical fire cart that they pulled to fire scenes, even many miles away. It was purchased through personal contributions from members and friends. In 1916, Tally-Ho joined the United Fire Departments. This department was made up of independent fire companies operating in unincorporated areas. It was composed of Norwood Hook and Ladder of Malverne, and Franklin Hook and Ladder of Munson, and Tally-Ho.
In 1918, after housing their wheeled cart in a small barn next to the re-built Tally-Ho Inn, they built a firehouse just down the block on Horton Avenue. The building still stands today but has been enlarged over the years. The firehouse is one of only two firehouses in Nassau County that has a brass fire pole from the second floor down to the apparatus floor.
In 1922, when the Lynbrook Fire Department and the Incorporated Village of Lynbrook extended its boundary westerly to include Horton Avenue, Tally-Ho was forced to join the LFD or disband. They voted to join. The Valley Stream residents, not allowed to remain with Tally-Ho and the LFD because they were not residents, were given Tally-Ho’s then motorized 1919 Model-T fire engine.
Those members took the Model-T and formed Engine Company 2 of the Valley Stream Fire Department. They are just one light west of Horton Avenue at their Brooklyn Avenue firehouse. Camaraderie between the two companies is still strong to this day.
For 100 years the volunteer members of Tally-Ho Engine Company 3 have been protecting the lives and property in the Village of Lynbrook and the surrounding area. And as members have changed, new faces have replaced old, and sons have replaced fathers. But the member’s commitment and dedication to their fellow residents has been proven over and over, and will continue.
