Fireman’s Hall Museum

The History

The museum showcases the art and science of firefighting.

Fireman’s Hall Museum is located on the site of Engine Company Number Eight, a descendant of the Union Fire Company, which was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1736. It’s housed in a firehouse that dates back to 1902.

The museum is operated by the Philadelphia Fire Department, whose members serve as docents and offer warm hospitality and enthusiastic explanations of the memorabilia housed there. While visitors can enter free of charge, donations are accepted.

Don’t Miss

The centerpieces of the museum are surely the ten antique fire trucks scattered throughout the building, including early hand- and horse-drawn engines.

Be sure to see the exhibit on Philadelphia’s own “Great Fire,” when 52 buildings were destroyed on Oct. 4-5, 1839.

Don’t leave without visiting the upstairs gallery, which features an old wooden pumper, a chief’s office and the firefighters’ rec room with an old-fashioned checkerboard.