The History of the McLean Volunteer Fire Department (The Old Firehouse Teen Center)

1440 Chain Bridge Road The Old Firehouse Teen Center was created between the years of 1916 and 1922. The date is not exact due to the absence of written records. The Firehouse originated as the McLean Fire Department.

1921 Department was organized and began serving the citizens of McLean. We started small. The first piece of equipment was borrowed from our neighbor, Cherrydale VFD. An old barn served as our station.

1935 In 1935 The McLean Volunteer fire Department purchased their first ambulance – the first also in Fairfax County. For many years this ambulance served the entire county of Fairfax. Some of the funds used to purchase this ambulance were raised by raffling off a doll. The winner of this raffle was Mrs. Grace Magarity, a long time resident of the McLean area. Following Mrs. Magaritys death in early 1964, her husband Fred returned the doll to the fire department to be maintained in the spirit of their other awards and memories.

1944 On June 28th, 1944 for the price of $5, the McLean Volunteer Fire Department purchased 13,740 square feet of land to expand the firehouse.

1947 In the Spring of 1947 the original cinder block firehouse was taken down. A one story structure was built in its place, containing four bays, a meeting area, kitchen and office space. The cost of this structure was $43,950.

1988 In 1988 the McLean Volunteer Fire Department relocated one block away at the intersection of Laughlin and Whittier Avenues.

1990 The Old firehouse Teen Center opened. This award-winning facility, the first of its kind in the metropolitan D.C. area, provides a safe atmosphere for participants to meet for recreation and personal development. Professional and experienced staff members organize and facilitate activities each day, ensuring that participants do not have to return home to empty houses. Participants can enjoy their time at the Old Firehouse Teen Center (OFTC) after school and during the summer

Today we are still connected with the McLean Volunteer Fire department, and still have members come visit the facility. Since The McLean community Center took over the building more square footage has been added to make the facility larger for community programs.

Interesting Facts: The bunk room was located where our computer lab and storage room in the back is located. The locker room for firefighters was located in the facility closet in the multipurpose room. If you walk in the room (where the chairs are located) you will see names on the wall that are still there from before 1988. The middle storage closet in the multipurpose room was used to hang the departments hoses to dry. After every trip they were required to dry their hoses before using them again. Firefighters used to play cards where our cubby holes are located for after teens in the afterschool program.