Ashby Historical Commission

NOTES FROM THE OLD ENGINE HOUSE
2007

This is the building at the southwest corner of the Ashby Historic District! This is the building that has the seasonally decorated flower boxes in front of the green sealed overhead door. This is the building beside the Ashby Market and across the street from the post office (now called the Abijah Wyman House). This is home to the Ashby Historical Commission (an official town body) and the Ashby Historical Society. Maybe you know all of this! Maybe you have also noticed that, like London Bridge, this building is falling down! Unlike the London Bridge, there are no plans to move it to another location. There are plans, however, to try to save it. Why? Well for starters it has quite a history.

In 1899, the town spent a total of $827.59 to build a two story building on land that was donated by David H. Damon who lived nearby. The fire department then consisted of the Watatic Engine Company and the Chemical Engine Company. It saw the modernization of the engine companies from horse drawn engines to motorized ones. It saw the building of a system of fire ponds and hoses that continues today. And when the fire department moved to new quarters it saw the development of a town police department from a one man operation to a larger and better equipped organization. The Ashby Credit Union was organized upstairs; the Ashby Band rehearsed upstairs; the World War II ration board met there. And on occasions, social groups rented the upstairs room – the original cost was $2.00 for that.

The second reason for saving the Old Engine House is the museum currently established there. The main floor is home to dozens of items from Ashby’s past. The Watatic Engine and the Samuel P. Gates Engine are stored in the bay. The main room contains the glass display cases from the original Ashby Free Public Library. There’s the Wilkinson square piano and the Kielty parlor organ, the facade from the old South Road post office, an Edwards Clock (made in Ashby of course), uniforms of several wars, including those worn at the town’s bicentennial celebration, farm tools and kitchen tools, and photographs – dozens of photographs – of the people and places from a hundred years ago or more.

The artifacts and records have been moved several times during the 1900’s. They went from Schoolhouse #1 to the second floor or the Grange Building, and then to the lower floor of the Ashby Free Public Library. When the Lyman Building became the Town Hall, they were moved to a classroom on the second floor. (It is now the selectmen’s room.) During that period items were lost or misplaced in spite of regular inventories being made and doors being locked. When the police moved from the Old Engine House, the Ashby Historical Society leased the building and moved the artifacts and records there. That location is secure and convenient. The Ashby Historical Commission shares the space on the second floor.

Now there is a problem with the building. The moisture and the soil movements over the years have taken a toll on the wooden sills and the underpinnings. The wood has rotted so the east side of the building is sagging. It affects the clapboards (which sag) and the doors and windows (which are askew). The building has been temporarily jacked up and you can see the extent of the problems if you stop by the Ashby Market sometime and look between the two buildings. On the west side, the bay’s roof needs repair, and the building certainly needs a coat of paint. It would be nice to replace the tall wooden flagpole that soared above the building with a fiberglass pole (the wooden pole split and had to be removed), but we’ll see about that.

The Historical Commission and the Historical Society are beginning a campaign to raise funds for the stabilization and repair. We are looking for a Massachusetts Preservation Projects Emergency Grant of $15,000.00(a fifty-fifty grant) and are asking for $10,000.00 from free cash (that will be on the town warrant in May) The rest we will try to raise through individual donations. When this is done, you will all be invited to see the antique fire engines, the Revolutionary period dresses, uniforms of many wars, the paraphernalia of ordinary and well to do persons, the tools of kitchens and barns, and the pictures – many pictures. Perhaps we’ll even serve tea on the lawn.

If you wish to make a donation, please make the check out to

TOWN OF ASHBY OLD ENGINE HOUSE FUND and send it to the Ashby Historical Commission, Ashby Town Hall, 895 Main Street, Ashby, MA 01431. Be sure to include "Old Engine House Fund" on your check.