Northampton Fires and Firefighting

Settled not long after the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth, Europeans were living in Northampton, Massachusetts, by 1653. Throughout the early years, fire was a constant threat. And not long after the first fires destroyed buildings constructed of thatched roofs and wooden chimneys, townspeople organized a fire department. Although not officially established until 1857 after a spate of arson fires throughout the 1840s, the earliest fire protection equipment was purchased in 1792, comp...