During the Christmas holiday season, I visited the Salem Fire Museum at 166 East Broadway in Salem, NJ. This unique and historical museum is open at certain times of the year and manned by members of the Salem Fire Department. The building was constructed in 1869 and houses the immense collection of firefighting artifacts on the two floors of the firehouse. 

The first floor of the firehouse houses all the old fire equipment to fight fires through the years. There is all sorts of pumpers and hose equipment that have been used in the past and show how the fire service has modernized but not changed so much over the last hundred and fifty years. Water to fire to put it out is still the way firefighters put out most fires.

Along the walls of the firehouse are all sorts of equipment dealing with the fire service from search and rescue to different equipment to put out the fire to the daily life of what a firefighter does in a day at work. When I visited during the holidays, there was a festive Christmas tree in the equipment bay and a roaring fire in the fireplace in the back of the firehouse to keep people warm.

The second floor of the museum was set up for the office and operation base of the fire department. The displays are set up with fire operations in mind as well as where the fire fighters were living when on duty for their shifts. There were also all sorts of pictures from the past at different stages of the Salem Fire Department.

The Salem Fire Department has created a very engaging and inviting museum that tells the story of not just the Salem Fire Department but of firefighting through the years in New Jersey and urban compared to rural firefighting. It is a great museum for all of those who are interested in learning the history of the fire service in New Jersey.

The History of the Salem Fire Museum:

(from the museum website)

Union Steam Engine Company first formed in 1749 and operated from a modest firehouse at the corner of Market Street and Broadway. The Old Court House currently occupy that site. The Salem Fire Museum is in the fire company’s second fire station, built in 1869, and served actively until 1992 when the Union Steam Engine Company No. 1 moved into a commodious engine house on Walnut Street.

The front of the firehouse was altered in the early 1930’s to accommodate the 1935 Ahrens Fox pumper, which would not fit in the narrow-arched truck door. In the mid-1970’s, a concrete foundation was poured to hold the weight of the 1978 Mack pumper. Size of modern fire apparatus was the motivating factor that drove the fire company out of this firehouse in 1992. The dignified old fire station sat vacant until 2002 when a group of volunteers began the restoration efforts. They were met with a staunch task of crumbling walls, no heat, no electric, no water, and little money.

Since the project started, the volunteers have restored the front façade to its’ original 3-arched-door configuration, replaced the frieze, installed HVAC, replaced the electric and water service, and collected, organized, and displayed artifacts from over 200 years of fire service in Salem City and surrounding communities. You can view items like the 1847 John Agnew Columbian Hand Pumper, the ornate boiler exhaust from the 1878 Silsby Steamer, old helmets, uniforms, speaking trumpets, nozzles, and the like.