MATTAPOISETT— The cost of a new fire engine today approaches $600,000, Fire Chief Andrew Murray said. But there’s one apparatus in town that is hard to put a price tag on.

The town’s first fire engine, the Eagle, is on display at the Mattapoisett Museum. “It’s definitely a highlight of the collection,” said Jeffrey Miller, the museum director.

Built in 1821, the hand pumper was used in the 1850s to fight fires using the most basic of tools — water and manpower.

A group of men would line up and pump the water out as fast as they could. This engine could likely accommodate about eight workers to pump the water.

“They would go as fast as they can. They could go up to 60 times a minute,” said Miller.

The pumper was made by William Cooper Hunneman, an engineer and metals specialist who served as an apprentice to Paul Revere. The Hunneman engine company produced about 745 fire engines between 1792 and 1883, according to historical information about the family.

The Mattapoisett engine is numbered 66, meaning it’s the 66^th engine built by the Roxbury-based Hunneman Company.

The engine was displayed in the 1957 parade that celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Mattapoisett. A year later, in 1958, the museum was founded and the pumper found a new home where it could be showcased and appreciated.

“It’s awesome,” Chief Murray said of the pumper. “It’s great that we can preserve history.”

On occasion, Chief Murray said, he visits the engine himself to be reminded of the history of his profession. “I go look at it and say, ‘Wow, that’s how they used to fight fires?’” he said.

There are two other vintage firefighting memorabilia in town, the chief said. The Firefighters Rescue Association has Mattapoisett’s first gasoline-powered apparatus, a 1927 Maxim that Murray said “still runs and drives,” and a 1949 Maxim.

These engines will be preserved, maintained as showpieces and used in parades and other association activities,  Murray said.

Maintaining such treasures is vital, Murray said. “History gets forgotten a lot,” he said. “You forget how you got to where you are.”

The museum’s fire engine appeals to visitors, Miller said, because the apparatus serves as a link to an earlier time that still has relevance today. “People are interested in things that are familiar, but in a different form,” he said. “It’s so different from what they see in their daily lives.”

Firefighting also appeals to many as a profession.

“There’s a fascination with the urgency of firefighting,” Miller said. “Everyone, when they were a kid, wanted to be a firefighter.”

That fascination inspires people to make long drives to check out new equipment, Murray said. “Every time we bought a new engine, people came from all over the state to see it,” he said.

He is grateful that the museum is preserving such a vital part of the town’s firefighting history. “We want them to take good care of it,” he said.