At some point during 1913, the police department still not owning any motorized vehicles, spent another $248.50 to rent a car from H.C. Lintott Company on Main Street and $65.50 with L.A. Holt & Co, for livery and $2 with Wheeler and Nutting livery to rent a wagon and horses.
A 1889 timeline of progress for the Nashua fire department.
Media news reporters always like to exaggerate the extent of whatever they are reporting especially when it comes to natural disasters – worst rainfall in ten years, a hundred-year flood, or the worst fire the city has ever seen. With that in mind, here are a few Nashua fires that were deemed the “worst-to-date” in the city, back in the 1880s.
Police officers, in Nashua and every other city in America, perform a number of services in the course of their job that citizens never see. Since the very beginning of an organized Nashua police force, beat-officers always check for open or unlocked doors on businesses. And since the beginning, open or unlocked doors have always been found.
When today’s firefighters are not out extinguishing fires or responding to traffic accidents or any of the other vital duties they perform, they are training or maintaining equipment. Things were no different 100 years ago although; back then, there was probably more equipment maintenance than training.
Growing up in Nashua, following its history, and seeing how the city has grown and developed is fascinating to me. I am constantly intrigued by the juxtaposition of time and space – seeing what structures occupied a certain space at a certain time, only to be replaced by another, and maybe another structure at a different time. Or perhaps, the structure burns, never to be replaced leaving only photos and a memory. Here are several instances of how buildings and property-use changed over time, and how it relates to fires in Nashua.
Stories from the History of Nashua’s Police and Fire-Rescue Departments POINT OF VIEW YESTER-HEROES by Gary Ledoux Like any organization,
There’s a good chance nobody reading this today ever heard of William Clough. And there’s a better chance that they couldn’t care less about William Clough. But if it wasn’t for this man, a veritable wordsmith with a badge, the history of Nashua from 1673 to 1895 might contain some large blank spaces.
By 1872, Nashua had seen explosive growth for 50 years! Due to the increasing rail traffic, vagrants who “rode the rails” came to Nashua causing petty crime to soar. So much so that not only was the “House of Correction” in Nashua used (this would later be the Nashua Country Club) but miscreants were also sent to the Manchester Jail and the County House of Correction in Wilton.
Thanks to the burgeoning business at the mills, by 1850, the city of Nashua had seen about 25 years of rapid growth. More people, more businesses, and more reason to have an adequate fire department.