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The oldest fire museum in the state and possibly in the nation is in Manchester on Pine Street. The building dates to 1901, with the museum opening in 1983. (Bob Kanehl / For the Journal Inquirer)
Among the collection at the Fire Museum are buckets to fight fires. (Bob Kanehl / For the Journal Inquirer)
Among the collection at the Fire Museum are vintage fire engines. (Bob Kanehl / For the Journal Inquirer)
The oldest fire museum in the state and possibly in the nation is in Manchester on Pine Street. The building dates to 1901, with the museum opening in 1983. (Bob Kanehl / For the Journal Inquirer)
The siren of fire truck No. 3, traveling along East Center Street, draws my granddaughter’s attention away from the TV or art activity. “Someone is not being careful,” she murmurs, imitating her grandmother.
Most people believe that firefighting units in this country date back to Benjamin Franklin’s efforts in the 1700s. In reality, residents of towns long before Franklin’s time had night watch and bucket companies to battle the enemy of wooden structures. According to the Fire Museum, at the corner of Pine Street and Hartford Road in Manchester, the residents of New York City had a volunteer fire unit under the Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant in the mid-1600s.
HOURS: Second Saturday in April through the second Saturday in November, noon to 4 p.m.
CONTACT : thefiremuseum.org; 860-649-9436.
Manchester has had a professional fire department since 1897. Before that, there were several independent volunteer organizations around the community; the 8th District volunteer department is the last of these still viable. Over the years, the other volunteer units consolidated into the town’s professional force.
The need for such protective units stems from the fact that fire is a constant companion to the development of a town.
Throughout the industrial growth of Manchester, the town fire fighting ability has matured and relocated as needed. Currently, there are five town stations: McKee Street, Weaver Road, Center Street, Tolland Turnpike, and Highland Street.
The 8th District maintains a house on Main Street and one in the Buckland Section, on Tolland Turnpike.
Though Manchester does not have the oldest fire department or volunteer unit, it has the state's oldest fire museum. This establishment is also one of the oldest in the nation.
Among the collection at the Fire Museum are buckets to fight fires. (Bob Kanehl / For the Journal Inquirer)
Manchester’s Fire Museum dates from 1979. That year, the Connecticut Firemen’s Historical Society negotiated a lease with Manchester for the gray wooden fire station constructed in 1901. This lease runs for 100 years.
The Fire Museum officially opened in October 1983 after years of volunteer and U. S. Navy SeaBees restoration work.
The original building housed a company funded by the Cheney Brothers Silk Mills to fight area fires. The station house served the South Manchester Fire District and the Manchester Fire Department until 1966.
Set up for a horse-drawn force, the station underwent various modifications to bring the unit up to date with gasoline-powered vehicles in the 1910s. A museum guide dismissed the rumor that the station had one of the first automatic door openers in the country because of the original use of horses.
Among the collection at the Fire Museum are vintage fire engines. (Bob Kanehl / For the Journal Inquirer)
Today the museum has a 1912 Seagrave chemical truck on display and a 1921 Ahrens Fox pumper. Besides these two fire trucks, the museum has several horse-drawn vehicles, a collection of fire buckets, and other firefighting equipment dating back to the 1800s.
Other closed fire stations still standing in the Cheney Mill area include one on School Street and a similar brick building on Spruce Street.
The 8th district historical firehouse sits on the corner of Main and Hilliard Streets. This site housed the unit's fire equipment and served as a community center and meeting hall.
Called on over the years, the Manchester departments have fought fires in residential homes and mill buildings. Some of the most notable fires have been on Main Street; various North end mills, and the school fire of 1913. Through the years, the men and women of the departments have seen their share of destruction.
Additional information on the fire departments and their role in the history of Manchester can be found at the Old Manchester Historical Museum, 126 Cedar St. It’s open the first Saturday of each month, May through December, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Bob Kanehl is secretary of the Pitkin Glass Works Executive Board and a volunteer guide at the Old Manchester Museum.
For coverage of local restaurants, cultural events, music, and an extensive range of Connecticut theater reviews, follow Tim Leininger on Twitter: @Tim_E_Leininger, Facebook: Tim Leininger's Journal Inquirer News page, and Instagram: @One_Mans_Opinion77.
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