TRENTON CENTRAL FIRE HEADQUARTERS AND MUSEUM

“The focus of the overall composition is a glass enclosed entry structure that contrasts with the flanking old and new buildings. It brings urban civic scale to the complex, linking the old and the new and providing gracious connected entrances from front to back. The big hat is the civic sign for the public museum enclosed in the original apparatus bays.” – VSBA

“The Trenton Firemen's Museum was founded in 1959 and was the fulfillment of the dreams of Meredith Havens and a number of firefighters and friends, particularly Captain Edward Gore. They had long sought to preserve the history of firefighting in general and of Trenton in particular . . . The small collection was originally housed in a modest-sized room on the third floor of Fire Headquarters, at 244 Perry St., Trenton, New Jersey. In 1967, as the collection grew, the larger (former) gymnasium was dedicated and, eventually, adjacent rooms at Fire Headquarters were added to expand the museum project . . . As word of the museum's existence spread, people from the entire greater Trenton area began to submit items for display; many from the children and grandchildren of former members of the Trenton Fire Department and the volunteer fire companies which served before . . . On April 5, 1974, in honor of his tireless work on its behalf, the museum was rededicated and renamed for its co-founder and first curator.” – Trenton Central Fire Headquarters