August 26, 2026 Submitted By Geri Duff
In 1846 the Town of Hingham built three identical fire houses and named them after the handtub inside: Extinguisher at the Harbor, Torrent at West Hingham and Constitution at South Hingham.
Today the Extinguisher House is part of the Sons of Italy on Chief Justice Cushing Hwy., the Torrent House is a private home on Central St. and the Constitution House across from Mill Ln. on Main St. was torn down completely after WWII.
When this photo was taken in 1940, the Constitution House was renamed for the truck in the building, a Seagrave 750 gpm pumper, Engine 4.
Try to imagine squeezing this truck into the space designed for a little wooden handtub. Today this truck is at the Bare Cove Fire Museum awaiting restoration.
This photo is from the archives of the Bare Cove Fire Museum.