The Fireman’s Hall Museum is one of the nation’s premier fire museums with nearly 2,500 pieces of fire memorabilia and artifacts in its collection detailing Philadelphia’s significant fire history over the last three centuries.
The venue, located in Old City, is free and operated by members of the Philadelphia Fire Department. It’s meant to let locals step back in history to learn more about the services, while also teaching details about fire safety with information dating back to the nation’s first true volunteer fire company, which was founded by Benjamin Franklin and his associates in 1736.
Everything is housed in a fully-renovated 1898 firehouse, and the two-story venue boasts one of the oldest surviving steam fire engines in the United States on display (a brightly-restored London-built 1764 Newsham & Ragg “Arrow” Hand Engine), plus a Philadelphia-built 1835 Joel Bates Hand Engine, and other apparatus from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
“The Fireman’s Hall Museum’s location in a restored 1898 firehouse and its collection of fire apparatus, unique fire memorabilia, and memorial display make it a must-visit for the fire buff, historian, and all children and adults fascinated by fire engines and the men and women who protect us,” explains Robert Shea, a member of the Board of Directors for Fireman’s Hall Museum in a statement.
Patrons can also find and read the stories of the first African American men to join the Philadelphia Fire Department and see just how far firefighting has come in the city over the last 300 years, a release notes.
Visitors will get insider access to check out an interactive fire alarm call box system (which dispatchers used to alert fire companies) and how it directed different fire engine companies to the locations they needed to respond to. The Hall also houses the nation’s first exhibit commemorating firefighters who died on Sept. 11, 2001, with the names and pictures of each fallen firefighter displayed—the latter also showcases leftover residue and panels from a destroyed NYFD fire engine and a stone from the damaged portion of the Pentagon.
The second floor of the museum features more displays on the origins of Philadelphia firefighting, with several pieces of 18th-century Philadelphia fire equipment, including a 1792 Richard Mason Hand Pumper, the release also notes. A premier collection of British and American insurance fire marks dating back to the 18th century is also on display.
The second floor also houses one of the more unique aspects of the Fireman’s Hall Museum with a 14-foot-wide semicircular stained-glass window honoring more than 300 members of the Philadelphia Fire Department who died in the line of duty (dating back to 1871.) Visitors can learn more about each person through an interactive computer screen located next to the memorial showcasing info about each fallen firefighter, their service records and news articles pertaining to their deaths.
As mentioned before, the venue also holds plenty of ways to explore fire safety (a great way to teach kids, the museum notes) with ways to practice how to call 911 on a telephone, take a virtual “when to call 911” quiz, and options to tour the museum’s “Blue Room,” which has floor-to-ceiling comic strips on its walls sharing fire safety prevention stories.
The release also notes the venue also has Firefighters’ boots and coats available for children to try on in the Fire Prevention exhibit. The Fireman’s Hall Museum mascot, Firefighter Ben, may also be found there teaching about fire safety.
The Fireman’s Hall Museum (147 N 2nd St.) is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free for guests, and donations are welcome. Guided and group tours are available by calling in advance at 215-923-1438 or by emailing the museum curator at Brian.anderson@phila.gov and the space is also available to rent. For more information, visit firemanshallmuseum.org
