In 1652, thousands of acres of land in the Southeastern region of Massachusetts, belonging to the Wampanoag Indians, was purchased by a group of Plymouth colonists and named after the English seaport of Dartmouth, England. At the time, the purchase included the surrounding towns of Acushnet, Fairhaven, New Bedford, and Westport.

Dartmouth’s corporate existence, however, began twelve years later in 1664. It wasn’t until 1674 that the Town established a form of government of a Town Meeting by elected officials, the same form of government still practiced today.

Only after King Phillip’s War in 1675 did the Town’s population and industries begin to rapidly flourish. The early eighteenth century was a period of prosperity and expansion for Dartmouth. In that time, the Town constructed the first Quaker Meetinghouse called the Apponegansett Meetinghouse (Est. 1699), which was rebuilt in 1790 and still stands today on Russells Mills Road. In 1991, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1900, the inhabitants of Smith Mills, a village in the Town of Dartmouth, formed an association to better the community. Thus, the Paskamansett Engine Company No. 1 was established. The organization’s primary purpose was to create and maintain a place for social meetings and to house the Company’s fire engine and equipment.

The Engine House was approximately 20’ x 24’ and stood in front of the present one, facing the south side of what was Kempton Street, what is now State Road (Route 6). The first Smith Mills fire engine was hand operated and either pulled by manpower or horses. In the center of the engine was a tank, which water was drawn into and pumped out by men, who worked the bars up and down to suck water through the tank and force it out a hose. On the roof of the Engine House hung a large bell, operated by a rope.

On Wednesday, September 25, 1901, the front-page headlines of The Evening Standard read, “HEROIC WOMEN! Assist in Extinguishing Serious Blaze at Smith Mills. Hawes’ Hall Building Almost Totally Wrecked. New Bedford Department Summoned to the Scene.”

For over two decades, the citizens of Smith Mills relied on the small Paskamansett Hand Engine and the New Bedford Fire Department to protect the town, but on January 12, 1923, they began to discuss the formation of fire districts and the obtaining of necessary fire apparatus. On April 5, 1923, Smith Mills Fire District was established. In May of 1923, the district’s name was changed to Dartmouth Fire District 3.