Bank St Headquarters
Bank St. Headquarters was built in 1886
and a year later became home to Alert
Hose Company Number One and Excelsior
Hook and Ladder Company.
Note the
“Alert” and “Excelsior” bricks
above the keystones
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Bank St. headquarters - 1908
The Bank Street fire house is pictured here in 1908.
The Excelsior Hook and Ladder's wagon is
in front.
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Bank
Street Headquarters
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Bank
Street Headquarters
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Christmas at Bank St. HQ
Bank St. headquarters is decorated for Christmas.
The “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New
Year” signs were created in the basement
of the old Bank Street Headquarters in
1953. Firefighters Dick Garneau, Milton
Shippee and Joseph Whalen created the
signs.
The signs are still used on the new
headquarters.
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Montgomery Hose Co. 2 - Jackson St.
In
1886, Willimantic began building two new
firehouses. The Montgomery's firehouse
was dedicated in 1887 just a few months
after the opening of the Bank Street
firehouse. In this 1889 picture, the
Montgomery Hose wagon sits in the
doorway.
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The Montgomery Hose
Company Firehouse
The
Montgomery Hose Company consisted mainly
of Irish firemen. They built this hose
house on Jackson Street in the 1880s.
Also visible are the "Montgomery"
brickwork and the "2" on the door's
keystone.
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The Montgomery Hose
Company Firehouse
It is pictured here just before it was
demolished in 1974.
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Hilltop Hose
Company 3 Firehouse
The Hilltop Hose firehouse on Summit St.
It
was built in 1903 and was
twenty-eight by thirty-six feet
and included the old hose house as an
ell in the back. There were two large
rooms on the second floor, a parlor and
an assembly room. Hilltop Hose was now
equipped with two hose wagons as well as
the old Excelsior hook and ladder truck.
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Hilltop Hose
Company 3 Firehouse
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Hilltop Hose
Company 3 Firehouse
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Hilltop Hose
Company 3
Hilltop Hose Company's Parlor |
Alert Hose Company's Parlor
It was said that the
Alerts had decorated their business and
reception rooms
“in fine style”. Their furniture
consisted of easy chairs and a
“tete-a-tete” and was mahogany framed.
There were rich Brussels carpets, Smyrna
rugs and elegant drapery over the
central arched window.
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Alert Hose Company's Assembly
Room
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Alert Hose Company's Hose Wagon
The Alert Hose Company would lavishly
decorate its hose wagon for parades in
Willimantic and in other towns.
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Alert's Hose Wagon
The Alerts often traveled to other towns
for parades. Here they are gathering for
a trip to New London to participate in a
parade there.
The Alerts, the Alerts Veterans
Corps and their specially decorated hose
wagon traveled by special train after
being escorted to the railroad station
by the fire police and a marching band
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Alert Hose Company No. 1
WFD
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Montgomery
Hose Co. No. 2
WFD
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Hilltop Hose
Co. No. 3
WFD
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Excelsior
Hook and Ladder
WFD
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Windham Fire Companies
The info
says this pic is of the Windham Fire
Companies in 1900 and was taken on Pearl
st. in Willimantic. From left are:
Jarrius Smith, William Swift, Rufus
Huntington, William Wales, Henry Page,
Edward Burnham, Rufus Rood, Andrew
Frink, Charles Larrabee, Charles Rood
and William Rood.
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WFD Collage
Here's an interesting collage of Willimantic Fire Dept. pics throughout the years. Courtesy of Mike Tirone |
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Fire
Department Auxiliaries |
Fire Department Auxiliaries |
Fire Department Auxiliaries |
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1976
Photo
courtesy of Joe DeFranco |
1976
Photo
courtesy of Joe DeFranco |
1976
Photo courtesy of Joe DeFranco
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