Skip to main content

FASNY Museum of Firefighting - Hudson, New York

Image
By

 

One of the things I enjoy doing is going to museums to learn about everything that New York State has to offer, especially when it comes to specific and unique subject matter. It just so happens that just outside the City of Hudson is one of America's premier firefighting museums, so I decided to make a visit. Dedicated in 1926, the FASNY Museum of Firefighting was formed as a result of an agreement signed by both the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (or FASNY, for short) and the Exempt Firemen's Association of the City of New York in 1923. This resolution stated that if FASNY would construct a building suitable for a museum, then four antique fire engines would be donated to the museum by the Exempt Firemen’s Association of the City of New York. The original size of the museum was 2,600 square feet, but almost a century later, the FASNY Museum of Firefighting has grown to 50,000 square feet in size and features one of the largest collections of firefighting apparatus, equipment, gear and memorabilia in the entire world.

When you visit the museum, you will notice the plethora of fire trucks as soon as you walk in the door. Before you can check out the centuries of firefighting history and interactive activities for families of all sizes and ages, there is a short orientation video to watch that gives you a history of this family museum. A lot of the various firefighting equipment, banners, patches and vehicles around the museum have been kindly donated from fire departments throughout the Empire State as well.

The non-descript museum entrance.


The main gallery of the museum features lots of different fire trucks, plus plenty of banners and even a few interactive exhibits.

All about fire hydrants.




Banners and an old fire truck.


Patches from different fire departments.


The main gallery is pretty spacious. There's a few dozen fire trucks in this one room.
Another room at the museum is decided more to historical artifacts and the history of firefighting.

Ancient Romans were among the first firefighters.

Some old firefighting equipment.

Older firefighting equipment.

The history of firefighting in New York State is as old as New York itself.


Newsham Engine from 1731, which is New York State's oldest authenticated fire engine.




Modern firefighting jacket.

An old pumper cart.









Leather buckets.

Antique leather bucket truck.


Sources and Links:
FASNY Museum of Firefighting - FASNY Museum of Firefighting
FASNY Museum of Firefighting - Our History
Firemen's Association of the State of New York - History
FireDex - FASNY Museum of Firefighting 
Flickr/Doug Kerr - FASNY Museum of Firefighting (entire photo collection)

How to Get There:



Update Log
February 12, 2018 - Original article posted to Unlocking New York.
August 24, 2021 - Article transferred from Unlocking New York to Gribblenation.
Labels:
Location: 125 Harry Howard Ave, Hudson, NY 12534, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

By
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

By
When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today.  The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45).  After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government.  Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941.  The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley.  This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...
Post a Comment
Read more