The current Town Hall of Braintree is the second to occupy this site in South Braintree and was built in 1912 to replace the old Town House which was destroyed by fire in the summer of 1911.
The old Town House was built in 1858 and was a 2 ½ story wood frame structure with a slate roof, pine floors, copper gutters and a large wooden cupola in the center of the roof. The first floor was the High School, the second floor contained the Selectman's offices and a large assembly hall. It was built at a cost of $15,000.
The main Hall was lit by a huge chandelier with 32 candles, one for each State of the Union at the time. In 1880 an addition was added and a grand piano was purchased for the hall. In 1883 gas lighting was installed, and in 1893 the building was wired for electricity. The first floor was the High School until 1892, when classes were moved to the new Monatiquot School on Washington St. The first floor was then converted to town offices. In 1910 a vault was installed for the safekeeping of town records. In 1911 Town Meeting voted to redecorate and paint the interior of the 53 year old Town House.
On the afternoon of July 20, 1911, Luther R. Barnes and his men were painting the main hall of the Town House when smoke was seen coming from around the window casings on the north side of the building. Upon investigation, fire was discovered in the attic above the hall. One of Barnes' workers, Leo Dennehey, who five years later joined the Braintree Fire Department, ran to the corner of Washington Street and Union Street and pulled fire alarm box 42 at 1:10 p.m..
The Braintree Fire Department in 1911 consisted of 72 call men divided between 3 hose companies and 3 hook & ladder companies of 12 men each. Hose 2 and Hook & Ladder 2 were stationed on Franklin Street near Washington Street in South Braintree. Hose 3 and Hook & Ladder 3 were stationed on Hollis Ave., behind the current American Legion Hall. Hose 1 and Hook & Ladder 1 were stationed on Allen Street in East Braintree. All the apparatus were drawn to fires by hired horses.
After discovering the fire, Luther Barnes took a fire extinguisher from the first floor up to the attic in an attempt to fight the fire. Finding that the extinguisher would do no good he returned down stairs and helped Selectman Woodsum and Leo Dennehey take the emergency hose up the stairs. The hose was only long enough to reach the entrance to the attic. Woodsum and Barnes started to remove important papers from the offices on the second floor while Dennehey remained with the hose until he was ordered out by the firemen.
Hose 2 arrived on the scene within eight minutes of the first alarm and laid a hose line of 600 feet from the hydrant at Taylor Street and Washington Street and another 250 foot line from the hydrant in front of the Town House. Heavy smoke and fire was seen coming from the attic and the cupola when Hose 2 arrived.
The first hose line was taken to the north side of the building but the hose burst near the hydrant and had to be replaced. A second hose line was taken into the front door but only as far as the first floor.
Chief Frank Whitmarsh arrived on the scene shortly after Hose 2 and, seeing the fire spreading quickly, immediately pulled in a second alarm. This brought in all the apparatus of the Braintree Fire Department.
When the first hose line was repaired it was brought up one of Hook & Ladder 2's extension ladders at the front of the building with a stream played through the window. This proved to be very ineffective and was soon moved.
Hose 3 was soon on scene and laid two lines from the hydrant at Washington Street and Central Ave. When Hose 1 arrived on scene a little while later they hooked into the hydrant at Washington Street and Taylor Street, bypassing two other hydrants on the way. Hook & Ladder 3 arrived just before 2:00 p.m..
At this time there were six hose lines operating on the fire. Water pressure dropped each time another hose line was turned on making it impossible to get water up to the roof and attic.
At 1:45pm, seeing the fire was growing out of control, Chief Whitmarsh pulled in a General Alarm and had a call placed to Quincy asking for their assistance. Chief Williams and the men of Steamer 1 and Combination 1 of the Quincy Fire Department arrived shortly after 2:00 p.m..
Quincy Steamer 1 hooked into the hydrant at Central Ave. and Washington Street. Quincy Combination 1 hooked into the hydrant in front of the Town House. The Quincy Firemen took one line into the front door of the building and another into the rear of the building.
During the height of the fire, pieces of slate form the roof fell and injured two firemen. Millard Dyer of Hose 2 and Perley Proctor of Hook & Ladder 2 received painful injuries and were treated by Dr. C.A. Sullivan. At one point the roof of the building collapsed, with debris narrowly missing firefighter Daniel Gallivan of Hose 3. Chief Whitmarsh was overcome by smoke and had to be taken home where he was revived. He fully recovered within a few weeks.
With the assistance of the Quincy Fire Department, the flames were quickly brought under control. The "All Out" was sounded at 7:15 p.m..
Through the efforts of Selectman Woodsum, Luther Barnes and the Firemen, all the books, records and papers from the town offices were saved and brought next door to the Thayer Library. Much of the furniture and many fixtures were also saved. The grand piano, sadly, was lost. The firemen were also able to save a large American flag from a closet on the second floor.
The fire is thought to have been caused by the wires of the chandelier, which had been removed during renovations, rubbing together causing a short circuit.
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