Handtub Junction, USA |
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| The Eagle was
built by the Hunneman Co. of Boston. The exact year and serial number are not know. It has
been said to be *#312, but if you look at the pictures, it has the characteristics of an
earlier Hunneman engine, probably within the first 125 engines he built. Lynn purchased 4
early Hunnemans #s 12, 14, 15, 16 and number 15 built in 1807 was station in the Nahant
section of Lynn. According to the Hunneman book, #15 was sold to Nahant in 1848 but this
is probably not right as Nahant did not separate from Lynn till 1853. According to the
Nahant Historical Society #15 was replaced by a suction engine (the Eagle) in 1839. The
engine looks most similar to the Hunnemans built in the mid to late 1820s around serial
numbers 100. An old newspaper article states the engine was built in 1831. So the origin
of this engine is a bit obscure. When Nahant separated from Lynn in 1853 the engine became know as Eagle No. 1 and served faithfully till 1871 when the town purchased the "Dexter" Hunneman #714. At that point the "Eagle" was retired from the fire service. In 1896 the engine was loaned to the Eagle Young Veteran Firemen's Association of Lynn. It was a group formed by the members of the Lynn Fore Dept. to compete with the engine. Their first outing was July 4, 1896 at the annual Lynn 4th of July Parade and Playout. The Lynn group mustered regularly for a few years with the Eagle disappearing from muster records around 1902. It attended approximately 29 musters winning only one on Sept. 23, 1897 at Peabody ,MA. It won $425 in competition and had a long stream of 209' 4". It was later returned to Nahant and is now under the care of the Nahant Historical Society and is on display in the Nahant Town Hall. |
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| * There actually was no Hunneman engine number 312, the number was skipped because there were 2 engines numbered #278 | |
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| The Nahant
Historical Society is offering this limited edition Pairpoint cup plates embossed with the
Eagle in the center. In the red circle around the engine it reads " NAHANT HISTORICAL SOCIETY - 1843 EAGLE 1871" The cup plates measures approximately 3 1/2" and can be purchased from the Society by sending $10 + $6 S&H to: Nahant Historical Society, PO Box 42, Nahant, MA 01908
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