Stories from the History of Nashua’s Police and Fire-Rescue Departments
Today it is easy and fast to report a fire in Nashua. A quick call on a cell phone to the dispatcher or a pull on the many fire boxes in town gets the job done. In times past, this was not so easy.
On March 6, 1870, the owner of a dry-goods store at the north end of the Noyes block discovered a fire and went out into the street calling for help – which nobody answered. The Nashua Telegraph report does not state the time of day, but it is assumed it was night. He then “went and rang the doorbell of City Hall, and very soon the large bell was giving its alarm to the city.” A second fire during that same day was at a slaughter house at Harbor Pond and a third fire was fought at the Beasom Block. Author’s Note: The Noyes Block was between High Street and Factory Street. At the time, the City Hall was on the east side of Main Sreet, just north of today’s Odd Fellows building. Harbor Pond is now the site of Simoneau/Globe Plaza/Main St. Market Place. The Beasom Block, destined to be the site of many fires, was on the corner of Main and Factory St.
Firefighter John A. Sylvester, working a hose line at this March 6 fire apparently caught a nasty cold. He felt ill while at the fire but continued to stand his post pouring water on the north end of the building. He continued to feel bad for the next three days and finally decided to stay home. Feeling better a few days later he left his home but then “took more cold and congestion of the lungs set in and caused his death.”
March 29, 1870 was a brighter day for the department when they took delivery of a new hook and ladder truck. Built by Hunneman and Co. of Boston, at the expense of $1,500, it was described as the “handsomest one that was ever seen.”
The then-contemporary description of it continues: The color is red with strips of black. The hook, ladders, and other things are of the same color with black tips. The running gear is strong and substantial, yet easy. The forward wheels swing under far enough to permit the carriage to be turned within twice its own length. The carriage is so arranged that the ladders can be taken directly from either side of the truck or the rear. The baskets, lanterns, boxes, fire rakes and everything belonging to it are a first-class. Over the truck is a scroll on which are the words, “Nashua 1870, Union 1, “We aim to save.” Each side of the driver seat are handsome lamps with the figure 1 showing by night or day. It can be easily changed to be drawn by horse or hand. The company ought to be proud of this, the third carriage of its kind ever built.
Author’s Note: Hunneman & Company was originally founded in Boston in 1792 and was renowned for its hand-pumped apparatus. In 1866, the company built its first steam engine and continued to make a variety of fire engines and ladder trucks until 1883.
By mid-April, it was back to fighting fire. On April 16, 1870, a storeowner in the Goodrich block discovered a fire apparently in the belfry of the First Congregational Church directly opposite his store. He gave the alarm and crowds came pouring into the streets from stores and offices in the vicinity. Soon the single alarm became a general alarm from the bells of the city. Firemen rushed to the scene with their apparatus, but the extreme height of the starting point prevented a stream from being put on the fire, until it was apparent that the building must be destroyed. The first floor of the church edifice was occupied by a crockery store and a hardware store.
Author’s Note: During those times it was not uncommon to have commercial businesses on the first floor of a church and church services conducted on the second floor. In the hardware store was a large amount of wallpaper, and even more combustible material such as oils, and varnish. In the basement was a produce store, and among the stock were both 60 barrels of flour, a large quantity of lard and butter.
The fire soon enveloped adjoining buildings. Flying cinders landed on a roof of a building on Franklin St. but was quickly extinguished. A row of wooden buildings between the river’s edge at the Main St. bridge and the newly erected brick Goodrich block caught fire. The combination of a brick construction and tin roof, being non-combustible likely saved other wooden structures on Water St. and beyond although the Goodrich Block did suffer some broken glass. With the fire quickly spreading and all available Nashua apparatus engaged, a telegram was sent to the Manchester Fire Department requesting help.
Of the four pumpers then in service, Manchester sent two. However, by the time the Manchester engines arrived via rail, the fire was under control and the engines not unloaded. Lowell also sent a pumper which arrived after the flames were under control. In the aftermath, with the church all but destroyed, a public and private debate ensued relative to rebuilding the church in its present spot, or moving it. Suggested spots were somewhere within Railroad Square, or the corner of Pearl and Main St.
Author’s Note: The Goodrich Block was on the west side of Main St. between Water St. and about where the small park is today in 2024. The First Congregational Church was known as the “Chocolate Church” because of its color. Built in 1835, it was located on the East side of Main St. at the corner of Main and Park St. This would be rebuilt as a church in 1870, then become the Park Theater, then Nashua Supply, a hardware store. This building will suffer two additional fires in 1947 and 1967.
Yester-Heroes author Gary Ledoux grew up in Nashua’s Crown Hill area, attending Nashua schools and graduating from Nashua High in 1970. He attended NH Vo-Tech for a time, then moved to Amherst, then Manchester, and Weare. He served as a volunteer on the Amherst Fire Dept from 1974 to 1977. A career in the automotive business took him to Florida and then to southern California. After 48 years, he retired in 2017, moving back to Florida with his wife, Rachel, and two dogs. He has published seven books, including two about Nashua history, and has been a contributing editor or contributor to 10 different magazines. Gary can be reached at mayorclum@yahoo.com
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