Meredith Havens Fire Museum of Trenton

Meredith Havens Fire Museum of Trenton The Meredith Havens Fire Museum of Trenton is committed to preserving, celebrating, and promoting th We hope to reopen as soon it is safe to do so.

Trenton’s first volunteer fire company, the Union, was organized in 1747, making the Trenton Fire Department among the oldest in the nation. Founded in 1959 and first opened to the public in 1961 as the Trenton Fire Museum, the museum was renamed in 1974 in honor of its co-founder and first curator, Meredith Havens. Today the museum occupies the spacious apparatus bays of Trenton's historic 1927 F

ire Headquarters, located on Perry Street adjacent to the city's new Fire Headquarters that opened in December 2000. The museum is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit and is run by a volunteer board of trustees. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the museum is currently closed to the general public.

This photo from the museum’s archive was taken more than eight decades ago during a two-alarm fire at the Petry Express ...
06/06/2024

This photo from the museum’s archive was taken more than eight decades ago during a two-alarm fire at the Petry Express Company warehouse on Temple Street near Third Street on Nov. 2, 1941. The first alarm, Box 8321, was transmitted at 1:55 p.m., followed ten minutes later by the second alarm. Also presented here is the Trenton Times report of the fire and a screen grab of a 1955 fire insurance map of the area.

The fire museum joins the area fire service community in mourning the passing of legendary fire photographer Bob Bartosz...
05/30/2024

The fire museum joins the area fire service community in mourning the passing of legendary fire photographer Bob Bartosz. While Bob’s main coverage area was Camden County and Philadelphia, he occasionally made his way north to photograph big fires in Trenton.

Among the documents preserved in the archives of the Meredith Havens Fire Museum is this letter related to the infamous ...
05/02/2024

Among the documents preserved in the archives of the Meredith Havens Fire Museum is this letter related to the infamous Hindenburg disaster. It was 87 years ago next week (May 6, 1937 to be precise) that the German airship burst into flames on approach to Naval Air Station Lakehurst, claiming the lives of three dozen people. Interestingly, this letter of thanks written to Trenton City Manager Paul Morton by New Jersey State Police Superintendent Mark Kimerling is not related to a response by the Trenton Fire Department. Instead, the letter offers appreciation for a response that was apparently made to the disaster in Lakehurst by members of the Trenton Police Department. Trenton Police Chief James P. O'Rourke was copied on the letter. How the letter came to be in the fire museum's archives is a mystery. Our guess is that Trenton Police Department - which back in those days operated ambulance services in the city - was called upon to help render medical assistance or provide patient transport. Perhaps out friends at the Trenton Police Online Museum can shed more light on the TPD's response to the Hindenburg disaster and the actions of the officers mentioned in this letter?

This week's dive into the fire museum's archives brings us this photo from 1988 taken by the talented photographer Paul ...
04/11/2024

This week's dive into the fire museum's archives brings us this photo from 1988 taken by the talented photographer Paul Savage of the Trenton Times. This two-alarm blaze occurred on Sept. 13, 1988 at 804 Roebling Avenue. The first alarm (Box 7347) was transmitted at 12:23 p.m. Anyone remember this fire?

The Trenton Fire Department, as we know it today, was born at midnight tonight 132 years ago. At midnight, as the calend...
04/04/2024

The Trenton Fire Department, as we know it today, was born at midnight tonight 132 years ago. At midnight, as the calendar turned from April 4 to April 5, 1892, the Trenton volunteer fire companies were permanently disbanded and replaced by the new "paid department" made up of six engine companies and two truck companies. Trenton's volunteer fire department began with the formation of the Union Fire Company on Feb. 7, 1747. The transition from volunteer to paid firefighters was marked by a grand parade (a photo of which is shown here) and elegant banquet held on April 4, 1892. Details about the parade, the banquet and the midnight start of the paid department can be read in these screenshots of the Daily True American newspaper that was published in Trenton on April 5, 1892.

This week's selection from the fire museum's archives is this photo of an extremely smoky blaze that occurred 40 years a...
04/04/2024

This week's selection from the fire museum's archives is this photo of an extremely smoky blaze that occurred 40 years ago in the basement of the Mercer County Courthouse. The fire took place on May 30, 1984. Any retired TFD members out there who remember this job? The photo, like many in the museum's archive, was taken by John A. Pietras of the Trenton Times.

Who remembers Battalion Chief Leonard Zola? What stories can you share? Zola joined the Trenton Fire Department on Oct. ...
03/21/2024

Who remembers Battalion Chief Leonard Zola? What stories can you share? Zola joined the Trenton Fire Department on Oct. 1, 1954. He was promoted to captain on May 1, 1962, and then to battalion chief on Dec. 24, 1971. These two stories looking back on Zola’s firefighting career were published by the Trenton Times right before his June 1, 1989 retirement. Sadly, Chief Zola passed away on March 6, 1999 at the age of 71 and is buried in Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Hamilton.

Here's another photo from the museum's collection that some may remember. This two-alarm fire occurred 35 years ago last...
03/14/2024

Here's another photo from the museum's collection that some may remember. This two-alarm fire occurred 35 years ago last week on March 8, 1989. Six houses - 201 through 211 South Clinton Avenue - were destroyed. Two dozen residents were left homeless and three firefighters were injured. The first alarm (on what was Box 7214 of the old Gamewell system) was transmitted at 1:25 p.m. This photo, taken by Ken Wadja, appeared on the front page of the next day's Trenton Times. Anyone have any memories of this job they'd like to share?

Anybody remember this job from 1990? This three-alarm fire occurred on May 19, 1990 at the old Blakely Laundry located a...
03/07/2024

Anybody remember this job from 1990? This three-alarm fire occurred on May 19, 1990 at the old Blakely Laundry located at 156 Brunswick Avenue at the corner Montgomery Street. The first alarm was transmitted at 5:10 p.m. The second alarm was reportedly struck three minutes later, followed by the third at 5:20 p.m. This would have been Box 4114 had the city's old Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph System not been phased out more than two years before. The last Gamewell fire box in Trenton was taken down on Feb. 18, 1988. This photo from the museum's collection was taken by Paul Savage and appeared on the front page of the Trenton Times.

Can you help us put names to the faces in this photo from 1959? We know that’s Chief of Department George Weigand in the...
02/22/2024

Can you help us put names to the faces in this photo from 1959? We know that’s Chief of Department George Weigand in the center, with Assistant Chief (future Chief of Department) Thomas Dovgala on the far left and Deputy Chief Vincent Pompei on the far right. These men were some of the more than two dozen Trenton fire officers and firefighters who attended a course on public speaking in early 1959. The training helped the firefighters speak more effectively about fire prevention and fire safety as they toured the city making presentations at civic group meetings, schools and other community events.

Address

244 Perry Street
Trenton, NJ
08618

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+16099894038

Website

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