Professor Justin Watral – Page 5 – Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical

Firemen’s Hall Museum

147 North Second Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

(215) 923-1438

https://www.facebook.com/firemanshall/

Open: Sunday & Monday Closed/Tuesday-Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm

Admission: Free but donations are appreciated

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60795-d146195-r793538286-Fireman_s_Hall-Philadelphia_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

Firemen’s Hall at 146 North Second Street

When touring around Old Town Philadelphia, I came across the Fireman’s Hall Museum dedicated to the Philadelphia Fire Department and its history and place in the City of Philadelphia. What I found interesting about the museum is the detail that the museum has on the history of fire fighting not just in the City of Philadelphia but in the United States. The City of Philadelphia is the birthplace of the volunteer fire company and where Benjamin Franklin started the first fire company.

The entrance

You can see the development of the fire service from the early bucket brigades where neighbors helped neighbors by keeping buckets of water in front of their houses in case of a fire. You can see the actual buckets that were used as well as the early fire markers that were attached to homes to recognize who was covered by fire insurance and where the fire fighters would go when a fire broke out.

Walking through the fire house downstairs, you can see how the fire equipment developed from the early horse drawn pumpers and ladder carts, to the decorative hose beds, to the early steam engines to the turn of the last century beginnings of the motorized cars.

The advancement of the steam equipment in the fire service

Information on the Firemen’s Hall Museum:

The Firemen’s Hall Museum presents and preserves the history of firefighting in Philadelphia, paying tribute to its firefighters, both paid and volunteer through the museum’s exhibits, public programs and award ceremonies:

*Play our ‘when to call 9-1-1’ game.

*Inspect the first-class collection of hand drawn, horse drawn and motorized apparatus.

*Take the opportunity to ‘steer’ a fireboat.

*View models of early equipment, hand tools, fire markers and other firefighting memorabilia.

*Reflect upon our memorial exhibits.

*Hear discussion on the former segregation of the Philadelphia Fire Department and its history.

*See the 9/11 display

The museum occupies a restored fire house built in 1902 and contains one of the premier collections of fire apparatus, firefighting tools, uniforms, photographs, prints and fire masks. The museum interprets the history of firefighting in Philadelphia through its collections. Explore 18th century hand drawn engines, 19th century horse drawn steamers and motorized apparatus of the 20th century.

The decorative hose beds that were used for parades

Philadelphia is the birthplace of the first volunteer fire companies in the United States and Patriot Benjamin Franklin founded the first volunteer fire company, The Union Fire Company in 1736.

Firefighter Benjamin Franklin

The second floor gallery

The second floor displays old equipment, the development of bunker gear and the helmets and the advancement of fire fighting equipment from the fire ax to the halogen tool. There are all sorts of fire markers from the history of the old fire insurance companies, a recreation of a fire chief’s office and pictures of old fires and how they were fought around the City of Philadelphia.

The historical marker to the fire house where the museum is located

Firefighting artifacts as you enter the second floor

The second floor gallery

The second floor gallery

The Firefighter stained glass window

The old fashioned pumper

Old fashioned hose bed

Good Will Firehouse marker

Firehouse bell

Water equipment

Rescue equipment

Benjamin Franklin Fire Department history

Memories of the Great Parade

The artifacts of the ‘Great Parade’

The ‘Tale of Three Cities’ parade

Old fashioned Hand Engine

The sign for the Hand Engine

Fire Medallions for the home and business

Fire Medallions

Flat A

Flat A sign

Chief Office display

The second floor meeting rooms and sleeping quarters

Chief’s Office artifacts

Chief’s office display

Water Rescue display

The history of famous fires in Philadelphia

The patch board of all the Philadelphia companies

Old fashioned Pumper on the main level

The museum is also manned by members of the Philadelphia Fire Department and many members visit the museum when they are off duty to explain things and talk about the fire service in the City.

The museum is free to tour but donations are accepted and needed to maintain this wonderful museum that supports the City of Philadelphia’s fire service.

The equipment floor display

The history of Engine 9 firehouse which is now the museum

Parade equipment Hose Bed

Antique steam engine

The antique equipment on the first floor

The Pumpers, Engines and Hose Beds

The firehouse alarm board

The fire bell at the museum

The Gift Shop:

They also have a great gift shop where all sorts of patches from the different fire companies are sold and other sorts of fire department items.

The gift shop at the entrance of the museum

The outside of the museum when I left that afternoon

Through interactive and hands on exhibits, the Fireman’s Hall Museum educates and promotes sound fire prevention practices.

(Fireman’s Hall Museum pamphlet)

Elfreth’s Alley Museum

126 Elfreth’s Alley

Philadelphia, PA 19106

(215) 574-0560

Open: Sunday-Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Saturday 12:00pm-4:00pm

Admission: Adults $3.00/Children 7-12 $2.00/Children under 7 Free

http://www.elfrethsalley.org/

https://www.facebook.com/elfrethsalleymuseum/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60795-d138249-r793534882-Elfreth_s_Alley-Philadelphia_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

The Elfreth’s Alley Museum at 126 Elfreth’s Alley

I came across this interesting little historical museum when I was touring Elfreth’s Alley in Old Town, Philadelphia. What an interesting look back at the merchant trade class of the 18th century. It really showed how the average worker used both their home as a business and as a home.

The historic sign for Elfreth’s Alley

The home had been former business of a pair of dressmakers who used the front parlor as their store and showroom, the side room used as the kitchen, the upstairs room was the living quarters for a very large family (I believe that the family had eight children according to the tour guide) and a nice sized garden in the back of the home.

The front work and show room

The inside display of the museum shows the dress making profession of the first two owners of the house and their work with the Philadelphia clients they catered to in the Upper Middle and Upper Classes.

The story of the dress business

The type of commissions the ladies would get from the Upper Middle Class to Wealthy women from the City

The front rooms were used as the workplace showroom where the merchants would greet their customers, decide on the patterns and make and then conduct their business. When they were done for the day, they just closed up shop. What I thought was interesting about the two business owners is that they took most of their meals out at the local pub. Time as dressmakers left them little time to cook so meals had to be eaten out.

Later on in the home’s history, a kitchen would be added on later by a German businessman who owned the house

The upstairs bedrooms

When you climb the narrow stairs to the second floor, it leads to the loft living space. When I heard how many people lived at the house, I could not imagine that today. Children today pretty much have their own rooms but these people lived on top of one another.

It was such a small space for a family of ten. Then you had to walk down another narrow staircase to come back to the first floor.

The backyard garden was really nice with interesting plantings, a nice sized garden of flowers and benches to cool under on a hot day. Much of the backyard was still in bloom when I visited in November of 2025.

The backyard plantings

The seating area in the courtyard

The gardens behind the home

The plants in bloom in the fall

I am not sure if the gardens were historically accurate but it was a nice place to relax on a hot day. It is worth it to visit this small home to see how another generation worked and lived under very different conditions (Elfreth’s Alley Museum self-guided tour).

The back gardens

Don’t miss the Gift Shop on the way out

The History of Elfreth’s Alley Museum:

Elfreth’s Alley Museum is located at 124-126 Elfreth’s Alley, preserves the 18th Century home of a pair of dressmakers. Restored to its appearance in the Colonial era, exhibits the house and tour guides interpret the life of the house and alley’s residents in that era. There are 32 houses on the street that were built between 1703 to 1836 (Wiki/Museum site).

The History of Elfreth’s Alley:

Elfreth’s Alley is named after Jeremiah Elfreth, an 18th century blacksmith and property owner. Among the alley’s residents were tradesmen and their families. Their trades included shipwrights, silver and pewter smiths, glassblowers and furniture builders. In the 1770’s, one third of the households were headed by women (Wiki).

The Georgian and Federal style houses and cobblestone pavement of the alley were common in Philadelphia during this time. The houses are typically small and many are uniquely Philadelphian Trinity houses. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, industry began to change the street with a stove factory being built in 1868. Soon it was followed by more factories that surrounded the area (Wiki).

Elfreth’s Alley Museum site and homes

In 1934, the Elfreth’s Ally Association (EAA) was founded to preserve the alley’s historic structures while interpreting the streets history. The EAA helped save the street from demolition and also lobbied the City to restore the alley’s name to Elfreth’s Alley. The area is an example of urban 18th and 19th century architecture and is part of the “Old Town” neighborhood of Philadelphia (Wiki).

The neighborhood hosts many events so please check their website for the dates and events.