Stories from the History of Nashua’s Police and Fire-Rescue Departments.
At the beginning of the 1870s, the Nashua Fire Dept. switched from hand-pumper engines to horse-drawn steamers. This period also marked the advent of “real” firehouses. With a population of over 10,000, and a growing commercial and residential areas, it was time to step up.
On July 12, 1870, a special meeting of the city government was held to select a contractor to build a new firehouse. This would be the first of what could be considered a real “firehouse” in the traditional sense. Up to this point, fire equipment had been stored on the property of the Nashua Manufacturing Company, and various storage sheds and barns around the city. The contract for the new station was awarded to a Portland Maine company as they were the lowest responsible bidder. The building was to be completed by October 1st, at a cost of a “trifle less than $25,000.” It would be located at the confluence of what today is Court St., and Temple St. The building took a little longer. It was completed December 28, 1870, and placed into service February 9, 1871. It would serve the city for 100 years and seven months, being decommissioned on September 13, 1971. This was the station commonly referred to by Nashuans as “Central Station.” (Author’s Note: Over the years, the former station has been host to several different businesses. At present, in 2024, it is home to “Liquid Therapy”, a combination restaurant and micro-brewery.)
On September 30, 1870, fire department officials met to discuss the disbanding of the hand-pump engine companies. The hand-pumps were placed out of commission but the organizations were kept up. A petition was circulated asking the mayor and aldermen to retain Protector No. 4 (the then-newest hand pumper) on the north side of the Nashua River. The company agreed to operate as volunteers. (Author’s Note: Given the accounts below of subsequent fires, it seems apparent that the volunteer company was not immediately commissioned.)
A week later, on October 7, 1870, fire was reported at the Holts Mattress Manufactory on Merrimack St. (Author’s Note: This was believed to be at 18 Merrimack St. near the corner of Merrimack and French St. about two blocks north of what is today the Amherst St. fire station.) The fire made rapid progress and finally gained such headway that all hopes of saving the building were abandoned, and those who arrived on the scene first were busily engaged in removing property from the flames. The firemen “did all that men could do under the circumstances.” Water having been drained from Artillery Pond (Artillery Pond was located behind present-day Holman Stadium) and the wells in the vicinity being low it was impossible to obtain a water supply nearer than the reservoir on Abbott Square and from which firefighters were obligated to force it through 1500 feet of hose from both engines.
A day later, a letter from an angry citizen to the Nashua Fire Dept. and published in the Nashua Telegraph states to the effect that the fire dept is leaving the city, north of the river, “bereft of fire protection as evidenced by the loss of the Holts Mattress Manufactory” on the previous day. It claims that too much dependence is placed on the new steamer engines when a hand engine, stationed north of the river, could have been helpful in this instance. The letter claims that it took the steamer from the Central Fire Station 20 minutes to arrive at the fire.
A month later, on November 8, 1870, a petition is drafted by several property owners in the north end of Nashua, and sent to the city’s Common Council, citing the total loss of the Holt’s Mattress Manufactory one month prior and requesting that they be afforded better fire protection. They note that the city’s best fire apparatus, the newer steamer engines are focused south of the river and that they would settle for a “second line” piece of equipment, namely one of the older hand pumpers as long as a company of volunteers would respond if needed. In an apparent political play, the Council summarily dismisses the request.
Marking the end of the hand-pumper era in Nashua, on November 12, 1870, members of the Niagara fire engine company, a hand-pumper, had their picture taken one last time as a fire company. With the advent of steamer engines, the Niagara engine company was being placed out of service. The picture was taken at the corner of Main and Temple St. The church in the background was the Olive St. Church built by the Nashua Manufacturing Company for their employees. The house on the immediate left was the home of Dr. Elijah Colburn. This house, built in 1826, would be razed in 1891 to make way for the Odd Fellows Building.
On December 2, 1870, a bad fire on Lock St., leaving a family homeless, spurs two strongly-worded editorials in the Nashua Telegraph asking why north end residents can’t be afforded the same fire protection as those tax-payers living south of the Nashua River.
The following day, in response to the citizen’s editorials of recent fires, an unnamed firefighter penned an editorial to rebuff the comments made.
Mr. Editor your correspondent “D” in the December 2, 1870 fire article in the Telegraph is an ignorant man in regard to the condition of the fire department, or else the he means to willfully misrepresent it. At the fire on Orange St. the alarm was not given until the house was past being saved, according to the testimony of the nearest neighbors. He says that the whole apparatus is all under the “gorgeous” of the palace on the hill, when the facts are that not a single article belonging to the department is in the house. The driver is in one place, the horses in another, the steamers and another, and the men scattered all over the city, yet with all those disadvantages the steamer was out of the house before the City Hall bells struck. No Mr. “D” if you can wait a few days until the new order of things is ready, (as they should have been four weeks ago if the house had been done) with show you, if occasion requires, that we can put a stream of water on a fire in Abbott Square, with a steamer, before a hand company from “Fours” House could get out of the doors with their squirt gun. Facts are what firemen want when citizens talk of their affairs – not exaggerations or false statements. The citizens no more need a hand engine over there then does any point south of the Worcester Railroad, (this would be Hollis St.) yet we do not hear anything from them. The whole gist of the matter with “D” and a few others of his stripe is to find fault because they cannot rule the Board of Engineers and have their own way. They could have done much better to help put out the fire and save what they could the other night, that have gone among the crowd, as they did, stirring up this feeling of animosity to the department.
On December 13, 1870, a volunteer fire company was organized when some 75 men met for that purpose. Officers were elected and the company was ready for work the next day. They expected that when the ranks were full that the muster roll will contain 200 names. The company said that it will be a model and useful company. (Author’s Note: It is assumed that this was for the north end of the city only. It is further assumed that they used a hand-pumper as their main apparatus but it is unknown where it was stationed. The Amherst St. station would not be built until 1893.)
Excerpted from Ledoux’s book: Nashua’s Bravest: The History of Firefighting in Nashua NH
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
Click here for all of Gary Ledoux’s Yester-Heroes Archives