History of the Seagrave

The Seagrave was 1 of 4 firetrucks delivered to NH by Seagrave in 1931. All four firetrucks were delivered by rail. This particular Seagrave, one was the first custom fire engines ever purchased by the town of Durham, NH.

Unfortunately, during a parade in Wolfeboro, NH in 1978 the engine blew cracking 3 pistons and cylinder walls.  The truck was then put into storage on UNH campus. Saving it from being sold for scrap the Durham Firefighters bought the truck from the town in 1979. 

• Service Record
• 1st Due 1931 – 1969
• 2nd Due 1969 – 1974
• Parades 1974 – 1978

After being purchased by the Durham Call Company and Firefighter Union, the Seagrave stayed in storage at UNH for about 10 years. After sitting in storage, it was then moved to Durham Town Garage where a group of firefighters starting working on restoring it back to its former glory.  

Members of the group tried to find someone to fix the engine but were unable to. They eventually explored replacing the engine, but the truck stayed silent for until 2007. 

In 2007 the ceiling of the garage collapsed on the truck and the members pulled it from storage and started the process all over again.  

Will Lenharth (Call Firefighter) and James Brown (Union Firefighter) pulled the engine from the collapse. Will and his father (Bill Lenharth) drove the engine to Scranton, PA, where Bill Lenharth’s friend at Superior Welding said he would weld and fix the engine. After it was welding, the partnership paid for engine to be sleeved, tested, and rebuilt at R&L Engines of Dover, NH.  James, Will and Bill with help from some others in Jame’s family were able to finally put the engine back together.

In 2008, a party called “Start the Truck”  was held in celebration of successfully getting the Seagrave Suburbanite back on the road.