The Woodside Community Museum has opened an exhibit on the first 100 years of the Woodside Fire Protection District. The town's History Committee volunteers spent two years preparing it, the Redwood City Pulse reports.
What's on display
Panels trace the district from a 1924 petition to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors by Woodside residents James Neuman and Selah Chamberlain Sr. and Portola Valley's Standley Morshead. The district was formed in 1925. The first station stood at 2991 Woodside Road, where the Firehouse Bistro is now, and Antone Davis became the first chief in 1926.
The exhibit honors John Volpiano, chief from 1932 to 1973, who became California's youngest fire chief at 23. Artifacts include a 1932 log book, Volpiano's white chief's hat, a melted fire-engine emblem, and retired Chief Mike Fuge's helmet, painted with a cartoon surfer. A list of major local fires runs from an 1859 lumber mill fire to the 1992 arson fires and the 2002 Albion Fire.
The centennial
The district marked its 100th birthday on March 22, 2025, with a ribbon cutting and open house for the new Fire Station 7 on Woodside Road, according to the Woodside-Portola Valley CERT volunteers who staffed a booth there. The Pulse says the station took 12 years to complete.
Visiting
Starting Nov. 7, the exhibit is open on the first and third Saturday of each month from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Woodside Community Museum, 2961 Woodside Road. The committee expects it to stay up for a few years. While you're in town, the nearby Woodside Store museum covers the area's logging days.