The helmet wall
Close to a hundred helmets in one room, leather through composite, arranged so you can watch the shape of the job change over two centuries.
Ontario Hose Co. No. 3 · 1950
A firehouse that never went quiet.
Two hundred years of the fire service, kept in the firehouse that lived it.
48 Sheldon Street, Norwich, NY 13815 $5 suggested donation
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Opened to the public in 2022
The museum at a glance
Fire helmets
~100
From the early 1800s to today
Truck 162
1969
GMC pumper from the founder’s hometown
The building
1950
In service as a firehouse until 2006
History held here
200 yrs
Of American fire service, roughly
What is inside the bay
One man’s collection, his father’s pieces, and what friends, families and departments have handed over since — kept in the room they were used in.
Truck 162
A 1969 GMC that ran out of the founder’s hometown department. It is the one piece here that was never going to be sold.
Badges, tools & extinguishers
Brass badges, hand tools, extinguishers and newspaper clippings — the working paperwork of departments that no longer exist.
Next times the doors are open
All eventsNo dates are posted right now.
Opening days go up on Facebook and Instagram first, and are added here as soon as they are set. You can also write and ask for a time.
Founder photograph not added yet.
Andrew Grant · Founder
Fourth generation, and still collecting
“This has been a passion of mine since I was a kid. I’ve always loved the fire service.”
Andrew Grant is a fourth-generation firefighter who grew up in Westchester County. He kept adding to a collection he had no room for, found a retired firehouse listed for sale online, and bought it in 2020. He now volunteers with Ontario Hose Company here in Norwich — the company that built this building.
Read the whole storyNews from the museum
Come and stand in it
Hours vary. Check Facebook or Instagram before you drive out, or call to arrange a visit.
- Address
- 48 Sheldon Street, Norwich, NY 13815
- Admission
- $5 suggested donation