Newest New York City Museum : Nostalgic Look at Lore of Firefighting

New York City’s newest museum offers a colorful and nostalgic look at the history of firefighting in the city as well as in the United States.

The New York City Fire Museum houses one of the richest and most comprehensive collections of fire memorabilia in the country, according to its director, James Selby.

Located in Manhattan’s SoHo district in the former headquarters of Engine Company 30, it combines the collections of the Fire Department Museum and the Firefighting Museum of the Home Insurance Co.

“Former New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was such a fire buff that he encouraged the Fire Department to begin its museum,” Selby said. The insurance company’s museum was formerly at the company headquarters here. Both received contributions from fire collection hobbyists in the fire departments and the public.

In addition to 15 major pieces of apparatus, the combined facility contains helmets, parade hats, frontispieces and shields, foreman trumpets, badges, models, portraits, songs, log books, presentational silver and what Selby says is the largest worldwide collection of fire insurance marks.

“The early fire insurance companies would distribute the marks as a means of identifying property they insured, tacking them up on a building,” Selby explained. “Some volunteer departments were reimbursed for putting out the fire.”

Among the exhibits is a horse-drawn Boston pumper built in 1765, the “Bolton Quickstep” with a rare form of pivoting brakes. Another prized possession of the museum is the “Hope,” a magnificently painted Philadelphia engine. Built in 1838, it is a classic double-decked end-stroke pumper that epitomizes the period of volunteer firefighting.

The hand-pulled and horse-drawn rigs on display include two early hand pumpers, one a squirrel-tail type, the other a popular gooseneck style.

Also on view is a 36-piece sterling silver punch bowl set ornamented with hydrants, hoses and firemen supporting the huge bowl and a ladle in the shape of a helmet, presented to a fire chief in New Orleans in 1872.

Two mementos of Tammany leader William Marcy (Boss) Tweed’s firefighting career--his helmet frontispiece and foreman trumpet--are also featured exhibits.

The firefighting history of New York City is traced from the first fires in New Amsterdam, through the Volunteer Fire Department of New York and the Metropolitan Fire Department, to the present Fire Department of the City of New York.

The three-story building housing the museum, built in 1904, is an outstanding example of the beaux-arts -style firehouse in New York City at the turn of the century.

The main floor of the museum concentrates on the practical side of firefighting and the development of equipment and firefighting techniques. In an audio-visual room, programs on fire prevention and safety will be presented to school classes, with field trips and tours of the museum augmenting these lessons.

On the second floor a parade theme highlights the traditions and pageantry associated with firefighting, especially in the days of the volunteers. Here an educational exhibit shows the causes and effects of famous fires in American and New York history.

The third floor, still under construction, will provide offices for the staff, a Founders’ Room and space for community programs, seminars, receptions and other public events, Selby said.

In 1981 The Friends of the New York City Fire Department was incorporated as a nonprofit organization to raise funds for the renovation and operation. To date $1.3 million has been spent, including a $600,000 grant from New York City. Admission to the museum is free.