Veteran Firemen's Association

Black and white illustration of an early 20th century fire truck in the center of a highly-adorned illustrated filagreed seal with black text above and below the fire truck. A red ribbon with black text is attached to the bottom of the button.

The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York began in 1872 and had its headquarters in Albany, New York and spread from there. The organization strives to educate and support volunteer firefighters of the state of New York. This also includes sharing this same training information with thousands of  emergency medical professionals across the state.  As of 2022 the name of the organization has been changed to the Firefighters Association of the State of New York. 

During the 19th century, Poughkeepsie was still growing from a town into a city and relied heavily on the volunteer firefighters from these types of association. As the century went on Poughkeepsie began to build a strong foundation of firehouses through the help of multiple volunteer firefighters. Originally, most of the equipment for the volunteer firefighters was split up between multiple barns within the burgeoning city, before dedicated firehouses were erected. Firehouses like the Lady Washington Hose Company were founded in 1863 and helped bring fire engines to Poughkeepsie.