Starting in the 19th Century, statues of firemen who died in the line of duty were placed in municipal burial plots, which eventually led to placement of monuments in more accessible public places and often to commemorate various departments or events. The monument in Hoboken was built to commemorate the end of the Volunteer firefighters in the city, as earlier that year, firefighting became a paid profession. The first statues were made using marble, but many, including the Firemen's monument in Hoboken, were sculpted using zinc and cast in bronze by Caspar Buberl and sold by J.W. Fiske.
