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Fun Facts About the History of the Alarm Industry

Fun Facts About the History of the Alarm Industry

The U.S. alarm industry can trace its roots back to the mid-1800s, when both the first fire alarm and the first burglar alarm were invented.

You can read about the history of the alarm industry on a web page from the Electronic Security Association (ESA) at this link. New York, NY-based security dealers DGA Alarms also has an alarm industry history page. And Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum, a law firm specializing in the security business, pulled together some interesting material about the history of the alarm industry, which the firm included in a series of blog posts in November 2020.

Here are some highlights from these sites that illustrate how far the industry has come over the last century and a half:

  • The first U.S. patent for a fire alarm system was issued to William Channing in 1848.
  • The first U.S. patent for a burglar alarm went to Augustus Pope in 1853. (A burglar alarm system had previously been offered in England that consisted of a set of chimes that was mechanically linked to a door lock.)
  • Pope sold his patent to Edwin Holmes, who used the product to build a highly successful security business.
  • A Holmes Burglar Alarm Company central station in Boston also served as the first telephone central office in the U.S.
  • After World War I, some homeowners subscribed to a service called door shakers- a group of night watchmen who would shake subscribers’ doors each night to make sure the doors were locked.
  • Around the same time, many insurance companies began offering premium discounts to alarm subscribers.
  • The first cost-effective smoke detector was developed in the 1960s by Duane Pearsall and Stanley Bennett Peterson.
  • Smoke detectors were largely responsible for a 50 percent decrease in U.S. fire deaths between 1975 and 1998.

Security Equipment Supply is a leading wholesale alarm equipment distributor that has a substantial history of its own in the U.S. security industry. The company has almost 40 years of experience serving security dealers.

We carry a full line of security equipment, including intrusion protection, fire protection, access control, video surveillance, smart home devices and more – all of which is generations more advanced than the equipment you read about here! Our knowledgeable salespeople are trained to help dealers select the right equipment to meet their customers’ needs.