Shamokin Fire Museum and Archive
Shamokin Fire Museum and Archive
Embedded Files
About the Rescue Fire Museum, Shamokin, PA
About the Rescue Fire Museum, Shamokin, PA
The Rescue Fire museum is a collection of memorabilia across the Shamokin Fire Bureau and the surrounding communities. We have an assortment of call logs dating back to the 1800s till present time. We have an assortment of gear to show the development of the fire service.
As always, thank you for the continued support of making this museum reality and away for us to connect to the past.
Photos of John Smith?
Founded by John F Smith, USN-RET--Shamokin Area Fire Historian
Founded by John F Smith, USN-RET--Shamokin Area Fire Historian
A local legend as well as historian, John Smith started the museum to keep us connected to our roots and to show the growth of the Fire Bureau of Shamokin and the surrounding communities.
John Smith's Collections
John Smith's Collections
Documents & Records
Documents & Records
Smith's archival collections include company call logs, news articles, and chiefs' reports dating back to 1866, as well as training manuals, and in-person photos of fires.
Over a dozen binders preserve typed copies of newspaper stories from 1899-1979.
Fire Co. Memorabilia
Fire Co. Memorabilia
The things John Smith and myself have collected over the years are very vast. From attending conventions and parades to talking to the old timers of the fire service, we have collected an ample amount of memorabilia. Within the memorabilia we have collected, we have mugs from six County mugs from the fireman‘s conventions helmets from past in prison Chiefs badges from every company in the city. The list goes on.
Memorabilia and meticulously labeled binders line the museum's shelves
Shamokin Fire Bureau Illustrated History
Shamokin Fire Bureau Illustrated History
In his multi-volume Shamokin Fire Bureau Illustrated History, Smith focused on the Bureau's role in the community, as well as the members and daily operations. These binders include his own research notes and writing, as well as news clippings, photos, and copies of internal records and documents from the first fire company in Shamokin in 1866.
Read Smith's introduction and summary history, and browse the files here.
Collaboration With Bucknell University students and Bertrand Library's Special Collections
Collaboration With Bucknell University students and Bertrand Library's Special Collections
2015: Student Documentary on John Smith and the Museum
2015: Student Documentary on John Smith and the Museum
Several men discuss their experience with the fire departments in the city of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, and the significance it has had in their lives and in the community. The video is in memory of John Smith, a passionate town historian who created what is now the Shamokin Fire History Museum.
"One Man, One Museum, One Community"
"One Man, One Museum, One Community"
Special thanks to Professor Carl Milofsky, Instructional Technologist Video Production Specialist Brianna Derr, and Bucknell students from Spring 2015 Sociology 206 Video Ethnography Course Laura Lujan, Stephanie Salazar, Michelle Lutz, Colin Sygrove, Connor Hayes, Abu Chowdhury, and Clayton McManus, for creating this video.
See more about this project in Bucknell Center for Sustainability and Environment's Coal Region Field Station Student Projects Collection here.
See more about this project in Bucknell Center for Sustainability and Environment's Coal Region Field Station Student Projects Collection here.
2025:Rescue Fire Co. Archives Online
2025:Rescue Fire Co. Archives Online
Bucknell's Center for Sustainability and the Environment and Bertrand Library's Public Scholarship and Community Archiving team are scanning Smith's photos and documents to make the Rescue Fire Co. Archives public online.
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