Stories from the History of Nashua’s Police and Fire-Rescue Departments.
The 1890s dawned – a time of great change – across the U.S. – and down Nashua’s streets. The western frontier was declared closed as there was no longer a discernable demarcation between wilderness and settlement. Railroads crisscrossed the country and the advent of the automobile was not far off.
In 1890, Nashua experienced the second largest percentage jump in its population in the city’s history, to 19,300. The city now had a trolley system, first horse-drawn, then around 1894 it became electric. The old Indian Head Coffee house at the top of Library Hill, now almost 100 years old, was razed and replaced with the First Congregational Church. Thanks in part to Gregg and Sons millwork company, opening on Crown Street, people started to settle the Crown Hill area. In 1871, Mayor Dana Sargent bought for $2,000 a plot of land on the corner of Arlington and Bowers streets. This land would now be the site of the original Arlington Street School (circa 1889) and the first Crown Hill firehouse in 1892. Shoe factories opened attracting even more people. The police department needed to be managed more professionally and become more efficient. The days of the three-man department was over. The police department could no longer afford to be swept whichever way the political winds were blowing. Social pundits and reformers of the day… “emphasized ‘professionalisation’ which usually meant a more military style of organization, higher education standards and better training, concentration on crime fighting, and administration independent of local politics.”
During the day, the City Marshal, Assistant Marshal, and two Watchmen were on duty. At night, the Captain of the Watchmen was in charge and nine Watchmen were walking foot patrols. A new patrol area was instituted this year – Crown Hill.
This was the first-time arson was mentioned in the City Marshal’s Annual Report. It said in part: “….very few who commit this crime (arson) are arrested and convicted. But during the past year, three have been arrested, two of them have been indicted, one is serving a sentence in state prison and one is in jail awaiting the action of the grand jury…”
The Nashua Telegraph of March 25, 1890, reports that Nashua Police Chief Tolles had recently visited Concord, NH, to observe the site and plans for a new police station that city was building. The total cost of the Concord station was supposed to be between $13,000 and $15,000. Chief Tolles noted that, being a “border city” that Nashua should have a larger station than Concord. The Nashua Telegraph balked at what could be a considerably higher cost building than Concord’s.
In a subsequent Aldermanic meeting, a resolution was passed to build a new police station. A total of $10,000 was appropriated with a resolution that it cost no more than $15,000. The station would be built on West Olive Street (present-day Court Street) across the street from the Central Fire Station (built in 1870) on land already owned by the city. This was directly behind the then-present City Hall which faced Main Street.
THEN AND NOW
In preparation for building the new police station, the existing wood-framed fire apparatus storage facility, located on that exact spot, had to be torn down or moved. The city elected to move the shed over to the corner of Quincy and East Pearl streets and make it another full-fledged fire station. This would become the Quincy Street Fire Station. (Today, this is the site of the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, Inc. It is believed that the portion of the Soup Kitchen building nearest the corner of East Pearl and Quincy streets was, at one time, part of the Quincy Street Fire Station.) The building was moved and the construction of the new Police Station was begun.
On November 15, 1890, the Nashua Telegraph announced that the new police headquarters was nearing completion and could probably be put into service in March of 1891.
So… the Nashua Police would soon have a more professional and adequate building from which to conduct business. But there was still the question of “professionalisation” – conducting their duties in a more professional manner, and being professionally managed – not politically driven.
On March 19, 1891, the NH State Legislature enacted legislation establishing a Board of Police Commissioners as well as a Board of Fire Commissioners for the City of Nashua. The Governor of NH appointed the three Police Commissioners to serve staggered terms of six years each. This removed from Nashua’s Mayor and Aldermen the power to appoint and remove police officers. A rule was also established that said no more than two of the police commissioners could be of the same political party. The amendment to the Nashua city charter was introduced in the January, 1891 session of the NH General Court and was approved and signed by the governor on March 19, 1891.
In his inaugural address given on January 1, 1892, Nashua’s Mayor Charles Beasom said:
The main object of the police commission bill is to divorce this department from politics, to select the officers with reference to ability and to maintain a tenure of office that will attract to this service good men and keep them there. Rules for the proper government of such a body are necessarily strict and of a military character. Such rules were impossible to frame under our old system of appointments. Hence by no possibility could any police force of the past attain the efficiency which I confidently expect under the new order of things.
Under the rule of the new Police Commission, Alvin Eaton becomes the new City Marshal replacing Willard Tolles. During this period the department underwent a lot of changes – for the better. For example, from this point forward there is no separate accounting for the City Watch, financial or otherwise – it is all one police department. Beginning the following year, the police department would have a realistic budget and will be only partially dependent on the income from fines.
It was also in 1891 that an ambulance was purchased by the city and placed under the direction of the police department. At the time there was no official hospital in the city so persons injured in an accident were either brought to their home where a doctor would tend to them, or brought to a specially equipped room in the Police Station. A small “Emergency” hospital was later established on Temple Street in October 1893.
With the expanding number of streets in the north end of the city, most specifically, between Concord and Manchester Streets, a new patrol beat was established in that area. Also, due to the growing city, it was requested to add more regular patrolman to the force, bringing the total to 21. At that time, when more manpower was needed, Special Officers are assigned different duties. These are all part-time officers. Two officers were assigned to respond to all fires and assist where possible to protect property and lives.
The department moved into their new Police Station on West Olive Street (Court Street) in April of 1891. With a new headquarters, and new management, “professionalisation” had taken a giant leap forward for the Nashua Police Department.
Excerpted from Ledoux’s book: Nashua’s Finest: The History of Law Enforcement 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
- Gary Ledoux’s Yester-Heroes Archives
