Central fire Station, corner of Congress Street and Pearl StreetThe Fireman Statue, carved out of white granite from North Jay, Maine, was designed and created by Edward Souther Griffin in 1898. Installed on the Western Promenade at the head of West Street in 1898, and moved around 1902 to the Fireman’s Relief Association lot in Evergreen Cemetery, it finally landed at the Central Fire Station on the corner of Pearl Street and Congress Street in 1987.
The artist, Edward Griffin, was most remembered for his ship figurehead carvings that adorned the bows of many sailing ships from Maine to Massachusetts. The heyday of this work was from 1860 to 1885. When sailing ship construction died out, Mr. Griffin went from pine to granite for a new carving medium. The Fireman Statue was his first major stone carving commission. Edward Griffin, in addition to being a fine artist, was a veteran member of the fire department. He is probably remembered more for his work as a craftsman than as a fine artist because his beautiful woodcarvings were exposed to the elements and slowly destroyed. There is very little of his figurehead work still in existence except in private collections.
