Former Volunteer Fire Station Converted to Brewery in Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach, VA
Age
21+ for alcohol service; all ages for dining
Cost
$$
Brewery and restaurant pricing. Check New Realm Brewing Co. website for current hours and menu.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat, urban, paved
Equipment
Photos OK
The Chesapeake Beach Volunteer Fire and Rescue Station was established in 1962 to serve the Chicks Beach neighborhood of Virginia Beach. Volunteer fire departments along Virginia Beach's coastal communities handled much of the fire suppression and rescue work in areas where the city's paid department coverage was thinner.
Firefighter Benjamin Bishop died at the station sometime during the 1970s. His colleagues began reporting unusual activity shortly after his death — the kind of low-intensity disruption that the firefighters who knew him characterized as consistent with his personality during his lifetime: a prankster who enjoyed practical jokes.
The station later closed and the building was repurposed. New Realm Brewing Co., a craft brewery and restaurant, now operates in the space, and the ghost story has become part of the establishment's informal identity.
Sources
The accounts at the Chicks Beach station are unusually specific — not just 'strange sounds' but particular pieces of equipment doing particular things at particular times.
Firefighters reported being woken at night by the sound of doors opening and closing in the sleeping quarters, followed by knocking on the door to the bunk room. On one occasion, a firefighter watched the heavy door of the fire truck open and close on its own. The station's water fountain was observed activating with its knob turning without anyone present. The fire truck's horn sounded with the system confirmed as shut down.
Bishop's colleagues characterized his behavior in life as playful and prone to pranks. The post-mortem incidents were read through that lens — the horn in particular, they noted, was exactly the kind of thing he would have found funny.
Toilet flushing and cold spots in the sleeping area were also reported by firefighters who worked night shifts at the station.
New Realm Brewing Co. now occupies the building. Whether any of the original phenomena have been observed by the brewery's staff has not been documented in available sources.
Notable Entities
New Realm Brewing Co. occupies the former Chesapeake Beach Volunteer Fire and Rescue Station in Virginia Beach — the building where firefighter Benjamin Bishop reportedly died in the 1970s and never quite left. Staff accounts of doors opening overnight and spontaneous equipment activation add texture to a standard craft brewery visit.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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