Editor: Kevin Walsh Photographer: Sean Colby Writer: Sean Colby HOME ALLEYS LIGHTS & UTILITIES MBTA OLD ADS PUBLIC SAFETY SIGNS THEATRES STREET SCENES CEMETERIES ABOUT US FORGOTTEN NEW YORK

Boston has a long and deep seated public safety history, holding the distinction of the first paid police and fire departments in the United States, as well as the first fire alarm telegraph system in the country, which is still in use today.

Over the years, many police and fire stations have closed for different reasons, including outgrowth by the department or budget cuts. Many of the closed stations still exist today, some of which are occupied for other uses.

This small fire station is on East Street in the Leather District, near South Station. The plaque marking it as a fire station still sits above the door, and shows that it was built in 1923, when the (in)famous James Michael Curley was mayor.

These signs for Hadco Windows and Doors (a former tenant of the building after it was a fire station) are still in the window as well as on the upper facade. These signs are retro and signify that the station probably hasn't been used by the fire department in many years (at least since 1969, as it does not appear on a list of active fire stations from that year).

This former station on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain used to be the quarters for Engine 28, Ladder 10, and the chief of District 9. In this picture from nycsubway.org, taken in 1972, the top of the station is seen on the left hand side, with an air raid siren on top. The church seen in the background of that picture, the First Baptist Church, was destroyed by a 5 alarm fire on January 18, 2005. Although it had survived an arson fire in 1975, it did not survive this fire, which was apparently caused by something being left too close to a heater. Destroyed with a church was an original organ from the Civil War era, which was saved during the 1975 fire but could not be this time. The fire station has since been an art gallery and a bagel shop before being inhabited by JP Licks, a popular ice cream shop that has since expanded out of JP with a few more locations in the Boston area.

SOURCES:

Creation of the Boston fire alarm box system:

The website of the Boston Fire Department (creation of the system and statistics on current amount of boxes in the city)

A complete list of Boston Fire Box locations

Information on the BFD's High Pressure Fire System

BOOKS AVAILABLE:

Schorow, Stephanie: Boston on Fire: A History of Fires and Firefighting in Boston. Commonwealth Editions, 2003.

Two books by former Boston Fire Commissioner Leo Stapleton about his experiences in the Boston Fire Department include Thirty Years On The Line and The Commish. These (as well as many other firefighting books) are available from DMC Firebooks

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