Boston Fire Museum: How DID the world’s first fire alarm system work?
Dedicated to telling the storied history of one of the oldest firefighting organizations in the United States, the Boston Fire Museum, owned and operated by the Boston Sparks Association (a fire buff group), has occupied the old firehouse on Congress Street, just a few blocks from the Boston Children’s Museum, since 1983.
The goals of the Boston Fire Museum are to preserve and display fire fighting memorabilia from the Boston area, educate the public on fire safety and maintain the historic building. The museum is composed of several exhibits, including antique fire gear; fire alarm displays and artifacts; photos; and firefighting equipment. Offices housing the Boston Sparks Association are on the second floor.
Historic types of firefighting apparatus include:
- a hand-drawn, hand-operated water pump designed by historic engine maker Ephraim Thayer. It includes the first engine he constructed;
- a hand-drawn American LaFrance Ladder Truck, circa 1860; and
- a front-wheel drive (formerly horse-drawn) Amoskeag steam pumper, from 1882.
The first fire alarm telegraph system in the world was established in Boston and the first alarm transmitted on April 29, 1852. The museum’s fire alarm displays include:
- two early "Gamewell" glass-encased fire box receiver/repeater systems, one which served the town of Hyde Park, before it was annexed to the City of Boston in 1912;
- a three-section, marble-mounted fire box circuit board, c. 1920's, from the City of Newton; and
- a Boston "box transmitter", c. 1960s, from which box alarm information was retransmitted to firehouses.
The museum is connected to the Boston Fire Department's actual live "tapper" circuit, so when a box is "transmitted", the bells ring and the register tape records the reported fire.
Historic equipment – helmets, masks, coats, boots and gloves – are displayed. The building was granted landmark status and included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
HelloBoston tip: Admission is free year round but is open only on Saturdays during winter months. It’s open three days a week from April through October.
- by Jim Brown , Boston Reporter for HelloMetro
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Jim Brown Jim Brown is a longtime freelance aviation, travel and destination writer and communications professional. A former reporter for Aviation Daily, Air Safety Week and World Airline News, Jim served for more than 15 years as a senior public relations executive for American Airlines, TWA and AirTran Airways.
