A new exhibit is opening in the Our Town Gallery of the Eden Woolley House, Ocean Township which will celebrate the 100-year-old Wanamass Fire Company.
The exhibit opens Sun., Oct. 24, and celebrates a century of neighbors responding to the call to save the lives and properties of neighbors.
The company’s vintage fire engine will be on hand. The public is invited.
As early as 1910, residents of Wanamassa organized to protect against fire. In February of that year, volunteers formed the Iona Park (a section of Wanamasssa) Fire Company, an unofficial organization that housed its single piece of equipment—a hand-drawn chemical unit donated by the Spring Lake Fire Company— in the garage of member Joseph Smith.
The Township recognized the new fire company and created Fire District 2. (Oakhurst Fire District 1 dated from 1913.) In February 1922, Wanamassa voters elected their first fire commissioners and passed their first fire budget ($3,000).
The story of the Wanamassa Fire Company is one of community service and dedication. Visit the new exhibit to learn more.
The Township of Ocean Historical Museum, founded in 1984, is a member-supported, §501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey. Its headquarters, the Eden Woolley House, is one of the few 18th-century structures still in existence in the Township and is open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.), Thursday Evenings (7 p.m. to 9 p.m. – March 15 through December 15 each year) and the first and second Sundays of each month (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.). The Museum also maintains a library and archive, which houses manuscripts, books, and photographs of historical and genealogical interest. For more information call 732-531-2136 or visit the website www.OceanMuseum.org.
