Many changes have come about in police and fire protection since the early days of Knox County.
Some of the highlights are included below.
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Nathan Butcher drove Mount Vernon's horse-drawn Police Wagon in the early 1900's, celebrating a century of law enforcement here.
Silas Brown was named Knox County’s first Sheriff just after our county was formed in 1808. Eight more gentlemen would hold that post, single-handedly providing all law enforcement to the county until 1830, when Mount Vernon was officially organized as a village and elected John Phifer as its first village marshal.
In 1876, Mount Vernon had four separate volunteer fire companies with more than 130 volunteers available for fire protection. These early volunteers were limited to dipping or pumping water from wells or reservoirs when in 1881, a disastrous industrial fire resulted in great property loss.