By Sarah Knauer, 2019 Intern

Each summer, Greater Portland Landmarks hires interns currently enrolled in historic preservation programs at colleges across the country to assist in our advocacy and education work. Our interns bring their knowledge of the preservation world in academia and in other parts of the country. In return, they get to live in a vibrant seaside city and gain valuable experience working in a historic preservation non-profit.

Sarah was raised in Pennsylvania and is attending the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Portland, Maine Fire Department has over 250 years of experience and public service. What most people might not realize is there is more to their history than just fighting fires.

In the early days of Portland's Fire Department, hoses and ladders were carried on trucks pulled to the scenes of fires, first by men and then by horses. In order to effectively fight fires, the hose companies would keep horses in or near the building that held the equipment. Stations like the one at 157 Spring Street (now the Portland Fire Museum) housed small stables where horses were kept comfortable between fires. These horses were especially needed when steam engines came into use for firefighting, as the heavy equipment was too much for firefighters to pull themselves.

Not every volunteer station could afford their own horses, as they were valuable work animals. In the instance of the Spring Street station, the horses originally belonged to a public works program and were just used by the fire department. According to fire historians at the Portland Fire Museum, these horses were even treated better than the volunteer and full-time firefighters. During a winter fire call, the horses were hitched, they pulled the wagon to the fire, and then they were immediately brought back to the fire station. They would stay in their stalls, where they were groomed and fed, while the men were fighting bitter conditions of ice and flame. Only once the fire was under control were the horses taken back to haul the equipment back to the station. Eventually, when fire engines became powered, the horses were slowly phased out of service as fully automated equipment was purchased.

Fire houses also served a multitude of public functions. The Spring Street station building was originally a schoolhouse in 1857. It continued to serve as a schoolhouse for several years and boasted one of the best learning environments in the city, including new individual desks instead of the typical long tables for multiple children to sit at. Another key function of the fire station was serving as the ward’s voting station. The open space of the fire stations bay easily accommodated this function.

The Portland Fire Museum at 157 Spring Street holds an annual Open House the 2nd Saturday of October. On this day they bring the station back to its previous life by hosting a horse in the stables, which remain largely unaltered inside the building.