Museo Parque de Bombas facts for kids
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| Established | 1990 |
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| Location | Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Type | Firefighting museum |
| Collections | Equipment, Records, and Dispatch & Transportation |
| Visitors | 88,837 (2000) |
| Founder | Rafael Cordero Santiago |
| Owner | Autonomous Municipality of Ponce |
| Public transit access | SITRAS |
The Museo Parque de Bombas (which means Parque de Bombas Museum) is a cool museum in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It's inside the old Parque de Bombas building in the historic part of the city.
You can find this museum right in the Plaza Las Delicias town square. It's just behind the Ponce Cathedral. The building used to be Ponce's main fire station. It was even the very first fire station in all of Puerto Rico! This building is special because of its history and its unique look. It's listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1943, fire departments in Puerto Rico became part of a bigger agency. Later, in the 1960s, a new, bigger fire station was built nearby. This meant the old Parque de Bombas building was no longer the main fire station. It started to be used for support and office work instead.
After serving as a fire station for 108 years, the Parque de Bombas building became a museum in 1990. The museum tells the story of the Ponce firefighters and their brave history. Mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago helped open the museum. Architect Pablo Ojeda O'Neill helped fix up the building to become a museum. With over 100,000 visitors each year, it's Ponce's most popular museum. It's also the second most visited landmark in Puerto Rico, after Castillo El Morro.
Contents
A Look Back: The Museum's History
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The building where the museum is located was built in 1881. It was first used as the main display hall for a big trade fair in 1882. A Spanish Army soldier named Lt. Colonel Maximo de Meana y Guridi designed it. He was also a trained architect. The government in Madrid, Spain, asked him to create this building.
The building was shown off during the 1882 Ponce Fair. Fair visitors used it as their main meeting place. The first group of firemen started working in the building on February 2, 1883.
The station kept serving the city of Ponce until 1990. This ended its 108 years as an active fire station. In 1990, the firefighting duties moved to a bigger station nearby. The old building officially became a museum about firefighting. Pablo Ojeda O'Neill, a local museum expert, guided the restoration. It cost about US$140,000 to turn it into a museum.
Today, a photo of the 1883 firefighters hangs on the museum walls. In 1983, people celebrated the 100th anniversary of a famous fire victory at the station. You can see many old tools and items used by the 1882 fire brigade. Some items were even used to fight the big "El Polvorín" fire in 1899. Even before it closed in 1990, the station was a popular place for visitors. Some firefighters would even give free tours when they weren't busy. The museum is still known as Parque de Bombas and is one of Ponce's most visited spots.
What You'll See: Museum Exhibitions
The museum has three main areas where things are displayed. The Dispatch and Transportation Hall is on the first floor. The Equipment Hall and the Historical Records Hall are on the second floor.
Dispatch and Transportation Hall
This area shows where firefighters received emergency calls. It also displays old equipment used to fight fires in the 1800s and early 1900s. You can see some of the pumps used to spray water during a fire. There's also an old firetruck from the early 1900s. Today, this old dispatch area is where museum visitors are welcomed.
Firefighting Equipment Hall
This hall is on the second floor of the museum. When it was a fire station, this was part of the firefighters' sleeping area. Here, you'll find original axes, picks, bells, and other tools. These were used when the fire station was active. There are also several firefighter uniforms, including their official Ponce Firefighters patch. You can also see their helmets and boots.
Historical Records Hall
This hall is also on the second floor, in what used to be more sleeping quarters for the firefighters. In this hall, the museum shows items related to the Ponce firefighters and how they were organized. Through framed pictures, you can learn about the history of Ponce firefighters and some of the biggest fires they fought. You'll see group photos of the firefighters. There are also pictures of important people like Firefighters Band director Domingo Cruz ("Cocolía") and the firefighters' doctor, Dr. Rafael Pujals.
In 1820, two huge fires hit the city of Ponce. One fire destroyed a large part of the city center. The other burned down 80% of Ponce's port area. This stopped all trade in the southern part of Puerto Rico. This exhibit also shows how firefighters responded to these fires and another big one in March 1845.
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Another important fire in this exhibit is the "El Polvorín" fire from January 25, 1899. This was a huge fire that put many lives in danger. It also threatened Puerto Rico's economy, as Ponce was a major banking and farming center. A painting in the museum shows the brave actions of seven firefighters and one civilian. They fought hard against the fire that started in the U.S. Army's gunpowder storage. They went against orders from the American troops who had just taken control of Puerto Rico. Because of their courage, a huge disaster was avoided.
For their success, these heroes were honored many times in Ponce and across Puerto Rico. A few steps from the museum, in Plaza Federico Degetau, there's an obelisk built to remember them. At the Cementerio Civil de Ponce (Ponce Civil Cemetery), a mausoleum was built in 1911. All seven heroes were eventually buried there. Later, the Parque de Bombas building was painted in Ponce's traditional city colors: red and black. Homes built for the firefighters and their families on 25 de Enero Street were also painted these colors.
A sad part of the museum's history is the loss of an important document. During a restoration of Parque de Bombas in 1975, the original copy of the "Heroes de El Polvorín" Proclamation disappeared. This document, from 1906, declared the seven firefighters and one civilian as heroes by Puerto Rico's main government body.
See also
In Spanish: Museo Parque de Bombas para niños
- Monumento a los heroes de El Polvorín (obelisk)
- Monumento a los heroes de El Polvorín (mausoleum)
- Parque de Bombas
- Calle 25 de Enero
