Historic Firemarks - Page 4
Lorillard - Volunteer fireman in Yew York City formed the Lorillard Fire Insurance Co. in 1853, choosing this brass fire mark as its emblem. Cornelius V. Anderson, later Chief Engineer of the N.Y. Fire Department, was its first president.
U.F.I.C - A 1870 issue of the Union Fire Insurance Co. of Nashville, the first new underwriter in Tennessee after the Civil War.
Sunburst - There is no known history on this mark.
Star - One of the rarest of the early fire marks, the six pointed star mark preceded the eagle design later used by the Insurance Co. of North America. First issued in 1794 and believed completely"extinct." this mark was found, after a long and intensive search, on a building in the outskirts of Baltimore.
Preferred Mutual - A new fire mark of Preferred Mutual Insurance Co. New Berlin, New York, portraying the company's slogan "the Best is Always Preferred" by use of several symbols; The eagle, our national symbol of strength, is an adaptation of the phoenix, symbolic of rebirth or building after destruction.
Green Tree - Evolution of the original tree mark issued by the Mutual Assurance of Philadelphia around 1827. The tree symbolizes the Company's willingness to insure buildings located near trees, not a common practice of the day.
