Free Admission to the Fire Museum
Saturday, October 26, from 9 AM to 2 PM, The Bare Cove Fire Museum will be open to the public at no cost. If the weather is fine, it is a perfect opportunity to drop in for a visit and then walk or bike through Bare Cove Park itself.
Just around the corner in Bare Cove Park, The South Shore Model Railroad Club and Museum will be open the same day, from 9 AM to 4 PM.
The Bare Cove Fire Museum is unique in that it owns seven motorized fire engines and three and ¼ wooden fire engines that were all from Hingham. This is a small sample of firefighting in New England using primarily Hingham gear. The ¼ fire engine is the wooden tub that is all that is left of the Hingham built Precedent engine.
Just think, Hingham had people living here in 1633 and did not have a fire engine until 1802 when the citizens in Hingham Centre decided to build their own!
There is more to the Bare Cove Fire Museum than fire engines. The trucks are kept in one of the former Naval Ammunition Buildings in Bare Cove Park along with artifacts from Hingham’s firefighting past. There are photos, logbooks, badges, fire extinguishers, bells and sirens, and all kinds of tools to fight fires.
By the way, the adults get so involved in the displays that they sometimes forget they have kids with them. So, we have a corner where kids can color fire truck pictures and play with toy fire trucks.
The building itself was used to fill metal shells with explosives. It was called a Filling Station. As you enter the building you will see photographs of what it looked like in the past. Park Ranger Scott McMillan has a small display in the next room of with an aerial view of the park and a few artifacts. (To see more about the Naval Ammunition Depot, check the Town of Hingham Website. Ranger McMillan has a small museum on river that is open on select Sundays in good weather.)
So, drop in for a visit, Saturday, October 26 from 9-2. If you like what you see, think about becoming a member. For More information follow on Facebook or call Geri Duff at 781-749-3535or email at bcfm.hingham@gmail.com.