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 Bangor Hose House No. 5 - Bangor, ME Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 44° 48.350 W 068° 45.600
19T E 518979 N 4961409
This Hose House is now a museum and was one of the few open when we visited. As a result we were able to tour the place under the guidance of a very nice and informative fireman/tour guide.
Waymark Code: WMQBCZ
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 01/28/2016
Views: 18
Designed by Bangor architect Wilfred E. Mansur, a proponent of Romanesque Revival design, he also incorporated a bit each of Queen Anne, as shown in the asymmetrical nature of the building, and Colonial Revival in the cupola/bell tower, which, incidentally, still holds its large fire bell. The octagonal cupola is fully open, with the domed roof supported by a round pillar at each of the eight corners. The firehouse was built in 1897 and served until 1993, when it was retired in conjunction with the opening of a new firehouse on Hogan Road.
Originally designated Hose 8, the station became a fire museum after its retirement and now houses a multitude of cool old fire fighting related paraphernalia. To an old gearhead such as myself, the most interesting items are the 1917 Garford Pumper, the 1939 Seagrave Pumper and a 1966 Mack C (cabover) pumper. The 1917 Garford Pumper was the first motorized fire engine used by the nearby Old Town, Maine Fire Department. It is also one of only three Garford Fire Engines still in existence today, one of which is in Australia. The museum also holds a 1930 McCann Pumper, which, for lack of room at Hose 5, is stored elsewhere.
Other items of interest in the Museum include:
• Gamewell Fire Alarm Boxes
• 1939 Seagrave Pumper
• Hand Tools
• Hand-Drawn Hose Carts
• Antique SCBAs
• An Original Bangor Ladder
• Brass Poles
• Life Net
• Vintage Bunker Gear
• Wooden Water Mains
• Photos
• Station log books
Admission to this museum, by the way, is FREE!
Bangor Hose House No. 5
Bangor Hose House No. 5 shows Bangor architect Wilfred E. Mansur in his best Romanesque Revival idiom, which, as always, was tinged with other influences, here the Queen Anne in the building's basic
asymmetry, and the Colonial Revival in the cupola. It is eligible for nomination to the National Register under criterion C for its local architectural significance.
The building ranks with Bangor Theological Seminary's Gymnasium as the architect's most successful institutional building in the predominantly Romanesque style. Mansur had a special talent for brick
detailing. Originating in the need for economy, he achieved wonders with his archivolts of recessed courses of molded bricks, his diaper patterning (as on the tower) the use of colored mortar, and here, in
creating overall rustication of the first story or "rustic." This pattern prefigured a similar use of terra cotta on his greatest building, the Chicago Style Morse-Oliver Building (1899, burned 1911). Since many of Mansur's pleasing late 19th and early 20th century institutional buildings have disappeared, the State Street
Fire Station merits nomination not only because of its splendid design, but as a survivor of a class. Such buildings typically were part of residential districts, and Mansur took trouble to design each of them as a response to its individual location and the character of its neighbors. The State Street Fire Station is particularly well designed in relation to the Comfort C. Farrington and Walter L. Savage Houses (241 and 262 State Street respectively).
Bangor Hose House No. 5 served in its original capacity until 1993, when a new fire station was put into service. Over the years it became more difficult to accommodate modern firefighting equipment in
a building designed originally for horse-drawn engines. Since closing, the building has been converted into a fire museum.
From the NRHP Nomination Form
Street address:
247 State Street
Bangor, ME USA
04401
County / Borough / Parish: Penobscot
Year listed: 1997
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture
Periods of significance: 1875-1899
Historic function: Government - Fire Station
Current function: Recreation And Culture - Museum
Privately owned?: no
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 2: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.
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