A bond issue passed in 1912 to fund construction of a water filtration plant and distribution system, a gravity sewage system, and an electric generating plant. The newly organized volunteer fire department constructed a firehouse on Sharp Street adjacent to the then new 100,000 gallon elevated water tank. The original fire alarm bell was moved to the grounds of the Municipal Building on Main Street in 1980 where it rests with an old road marker of 1819 inscribed “45 miles from the Brunswick Courthouse to Petersburg.”