Small local associations for mutual aid in case of loss by fire appear to have existed in England at a very early time. The first regular office for this purpose of insuring against loss by fire was established in 1681, fifteen years after the great London fire. Fire insurance did not meet as favorable reception as marine insurance, on account of the temptation which it was supposed to furnish for the commission of arson, and great development of this form of insurance has only come in the last sixty years. The first fire insurance company was established in the United States in 1752.

6 Vance on Insurance, p. 10.