On August 13, 1936, the Hampton Union ran a story in the Souvenir Edition about the history of the Hampton Beach Fire Department.  It read in part, "... In 1922, the first fire house was built also under the direction of Chief A. H. Brown. In the same year, an Aherns-Fox pump and ladder combination was put into use making two motor driven fire engines.  In 1923, the fire house was burned down. Immediately, the work was started to rebuild a fire station of modern design and soon there was a 2-story stone structure of a cement base and has a capacity of housing 5 modern fire trucks with a 3 door run. It was rebuilt on the site of the first fire house on Marsh (Ashworth) Ave. where it still stands."

This year the new Hampton Beach firehouse was completed, marking the end of nearly a century of life for this grand old building.  To mark its passing, staff from the Lane Library was allowed inside just prior to demolition in order to take some photographs.  These shots are now available for viewing on our Flickr site.  Included are images of the various rooms and bays, plus a few close-ups of the old fixtures and some bits and pieces of daily life.  We also have a web page dedicated to the Hampton Fire Department, with many linked articles for those who would like to delve deeper into both the history of the Fire Department and some of the more notable fires from the past.