FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies - 2nd Section

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Regarding "The Godfather", I believe the interior scenes of the baptism were filmed at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street in Manhattan. Mount Loretto was used for its exterior only.
Some on Staten Island believe the fire was divine retribution for letting the church be used for such a movie.
Captain John Drennan of Ladder 5's wake was held at Mount Loretto.

 

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Regarding "The Godfather", I believe the interior scenes of the baptism were filmed at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street in Manhattan. Mount Loretto was used for its exterior only.
Some on Staten Island believe the fire was divine retribution for letting the church be used for such a movie.
Captain John Drennan of Ladder 5's wake was held at Mount Loretto.

Yes - Two churches were used to film the Godfather movie baptism scene. The interior shots were filmed at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York. The exterior scenes following the baptism were filmed at The Church of St. Joachim at Mt. Loretto.

 

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ENGINE 47 FIREHOUSE 502 W. 113RD STREET, MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, MANHATTAN DIVISION 3, BATTALION 11 "PRIDE OF MORNINGSIDE"


Engine 47 organized 909 E 149th Street Bronx 1881
Engine 47 disbanded 1882
Combined Engine 47 organized 766 Amsterdam Avenue Manhattan 1882
Combined Engine 47 became Engine 47 1891
Engine 47 new firehouse 502 W 113rd Street 1891
Engine 47 disbanded 1975
Engine 47 reorganized 1975

Notes:

Chemical Engine 1 Bronx organized 909 E 149th Street 1874
Chemical Engine 1 disbanded to organized Engine 47 1881

Ladder 16 Manhattan organized Bloomingdale Road & W 97th Street 1873)
Ladder 16 moved 766 Amsterdam Avenue 1876
Ladder 16 moved W 99th Street & 10th Avenue 1882
Ladder 16 disbanded to organize Combined Engine 47 1882
Ladder 16 reorganized 159 E 67th Street 1887

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)



766 AMSTERDAM AVENUE COMBINED ENGINE 47 FIREHOUSE 1882-1891






766 AMSTERDAM AVENUE COMBINED ENGINE 47 FIREHOUSE

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)



502 W 113RD STREET FIREHOUSE BUILT 1891

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)



502 W 113 STREET FIREHOUSE

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)



502 W 113 STREET FIREHOUSE

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)



502 W 113 STREET FIREHOUSE

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)



ENGINE 47 HISTORY




ENGINE COMPANY NO. 47

This exhibit provides a history of Engine Company No. 47 from its beginnings as a combination engine company in 1882 through motorization in 1920. From 1883 to 1887, the company housed the Fire Department's first School of Instruction and Life-Saving Corps in its firehouse at 97th and Tenth Avenue. These programs trained and tested recruits and firemen, anticipating New York City's later adoption of Civil Service laws. In 1891, the company moved north to its handsome, newly completed brick firehouse on 113th Street. That year the company responded to 83 alarms, by 1911 the number would grow to 341. During these years, the firemen of Engine Company No. 47 served continuous duty, meaning that they were allowed only three hours a day away from the firehouse for meals and to see their families. In January 1920, Engine Company 47 moved to a two-platoon system and in August, the fire horses of Engine 47 were retired, and it became the last company in Manhattan to be motorized.


EARLY HISTORY: THE VOLUNTEER ERA (PRE-FDNY ENGINE 47)

1737-1830
The first volunteer force was organized in 1737 by the Common Council. By 1810 there were thirty-four engine and three hook and ladder companies.

1830-1865
Beginning with the 1830s, the volunteer fire companies were civic, social, familial, and political organizations, with membership the starting point for many political careers. Seven mayors elected after 1835 had been fireman, including William "Boss" Tweed, who was a founder of "Americus" Engine Company 33 in 1848. As many as 100 men could be associated with a single company, and companies were constantly disolving and reforming. Company officers were elected by the men in the companies.

Augustine Costello describes four separate Engine 47 companies during the volunteer era:
The first, the "Mechanics'" was organized March 10, 1928 for the protection of shipyards. It was located on the dry dock and the members were all shipwrights or builders. On June 22, 1842 it was organized into Hose Company No. 34.

"Their house was a small one, which had a bell on it, and a hole cut in the front door through which the rope attached to the bell could be reached to summon the firemen in case of fire. It was said that of the company that they used to 'grease their wheels with butter,' being too high-toned to use anything more common."https://mhdh.library.columbia.edu/e...pany_no_47/early-history--volunteer-era#_ftn2

The next Engine No. 47, "Aqueduct", was located on 82nd Street near Third Avenue. It was organized March 6, 1854 and was disbanded September 18, 1855.

The third, "New York", organized June 4, 1860 by members of the New York Hose Company No. 5, was housed with them in Firemen's Hall. This company was accused of repeatedly running a competing Hose Company off the road, and was disbanded March 24, 1864.

The last volunteer Engine Company No. 47, the "Croton" was organized on May 26, 1864. They were stationed at 165 W. 120th Street. The company was mustered out by the Paid Department in 1865.




Figure 1: Firemen's Hall on Mercer Street was the last firehouse constructed during the volunteer era. It would later house the headquarters of the Metropolitan Fire Department (1865-70) and the New York Fire Department (1870-1887).




Figure 2: New York Times 25 (Mar 1864)


End of the Volunteer Era

Dissatisfaction with the volunteer fire department had been growing during the 1860s. Some volunteers were among the mob during the Draft Riots; the engine companies often raced each other to fires, running down the sidewalks and putting pedestrians at risk; and the insurance industry was unhappy with rising fire expenses.

In 1864, the Board of Fire Underwriters, concerned about the cost of the volunteer system appointed a committee to consider the subject of 'promoting great efficiency in the Fire Department,' which began collecting evidence against the Volunteer Department. Limpus reports that much of the evidence was supplied by the Police Department. The committee also surveyed other cities which reported being happy with their paid departments. In the spring of 1865, the Republican state legislature and Republican governor, eager to reduce Tweed's influence, replaced the volunteer companies with the Metropolitan Fire Department, exclusively under the direction of a Republican board of commissioners. https://mhdh.library.columbia.edu/e...pany_no_47/early-history--volunteer-era#_ftn5

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)



ENGINE 47 HISTORY

PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT

Metropolitan Fire Department (MFD) 1865-1870

The 1865 transition from volunteer to paid force was remarkably efficient. Firemen were hired from the ranks of the volunteers, equipment was redeployed, and new steam engines were purchased. In 1867, Civil War veterans General Alexander Shaler and Colonel Theodorus Bailey Myers were appointed Fire Commissioners, with General Shaler serving as President. They are credited with instilling military discipline, defining districts and company boundaries, and organizing the department into companies, battalions, and brigades. They revised the rules and regulations, created an accounting system for department equipment, established examinations for prospective firemen, taught officers classes, created boards of officers to examine candidates for promotion, and set the system of assimilated rank that continues in part today.

The Metropolitan Fire Department lasted for only five years. In 1869, Tweed's candidate John T. Hoffman was elected governor and soon after Albany passed the Charter of 1870 or "Tweed Charter," which abolished all state control over New York City, returning the Fire Department of the City of New York. In 1873, Tweed was sentenced to prison for embezzlement, and the Tweed Charter was replaced by the Charter of the Committee of Seventy, which the Legislature passed in 1873. General Shaler had remained on the Board of Commissioners throughout these changes, and he drafted the Fire Department provisions for the new charter, which kept the Fire Department under city control.



Alexander Shaler served as a commissioner of Fire Department from 1867-1873. He was a Civil War general who organized the new Department using a military model, and is credited with establishing discipline, accountability, and merit-based promotion.

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

Engine Company No. 47 on Amsterdam Avenue (1881-1891)
Engine Company No. 47 was first organized in October 1881 as Chemical Engine 1 at 909 East 149th St in the Bronx. In August 1882, the company was reorganized as Combination Engine Co. 47, and moved to 766 Amsterdam Avenue. Combination engine companies were equipped with a steam engine, a ladder truck, and a hose tender, and used in less populated areas that might not need both an engine and a hook and ladder company. The company was composed of 12 men including officers, and had five horses. Company boundaries were 82nd St to 110th street between 8th Avenue and the North (Hudson) River. Seven of the first members of Engine Company No. 47 had served together on Hook and Ladder Company 16, which had previously been quartered at 766 Amsterdam Avenue: Captain James A. McCormick, Assistant Foreman Owen O'Rourke, and Firemen James K. P. Robinson, James Daly, Thomas E. Schiel, and John H. Griffin. The new members were Engineer John H. Steele, Assistant Engineer Patrick Martin, and Firemen William Farrell, James Leavy, and James McNamee.

The annual Report did not give company fire statistics for the first two years, but by 1884, Engine 47 had responded to 39 alarms and performed duty at 7 fires.





The Engine Company No. 47 roster and payroll in March 1883. Christopher Hoell was listed on the Company payroll. From the City Record, 1883.

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

School of Instruction and the Life-Saving Corps

In 1881 the Rules and Regulations were revised and expanded. The following year the department called for the establishment of two training courses: the School of Instruction, which covered the practical duties of a fireman, and the Life Saving Corps, taught by Christopher Hoell, a specialist from St. Louis brought to New York to give instruction in the deployment and use of scaling ladders and other rescue devices. The classes met on the third floor of Engine Company No. 47, and an unoccupied sugar factory at 158th and the North River was used for scaling practice. Prospective fire fighters were tested following the training, and only those who satisfied the instructors were eligible for assignment. Attendance was made compulsory for any firemen seeking promotion, and by 1886, 604 veteran fireman had received training[8], and by 1888 all firemen younger than 40 had been ordered to attend.




Report on the first year of the Life Saving Corps and School of Instruction, which were based in Engine Company 47 quarters from 1883 until they moved to the Fire Department Headquarters in 1887. Annual Report, 1883.

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

Civil Service

In 1883, when New York and Brooklyn became the first cities in the nation to adopt civil service regulations, the fire department already had training and testing programs in place.

The program became a model for other cities, and the article "Testing Firemen," Harper's Weekly proclaimed:

"The Fire Department of the city of New York has long been recognized both at home and abroad as among the best in the world as to efficiency, activity, system apparatus and progressiveness."

In 1887, The School of Instruction and Life Saving Corps left Engine Company 47 and moved to the fifth floor of the newly-built Fire Department Headquarters on 67th Street. Classes were conducted on the fifth floor and the outside walls were used for scaling practice. A "Company School" was added in 1888 to afford "the entire force to obtain a familiarity and knowledge of the recent improvements in apparatus, implements, tools, ladders, and life-saving appliances, which are continually being added to the equipment department," and the Annual Report published grades of companies attending the Company School. The New York Fire College was founded January 1st, 1911, with schools for Officers, Engineers, Probabtionary Firemen and Companies.

New York was proud of its skilled fire department. A New York Times article from 1890 details the steps to becoming a fireman:

• Initial application to either the Municipal Civil Service Board or to one of the three Fire Commissioners (though the Times notes that most prospective firemen apply directly to the Commissioners)
• Complete a written application in his own handwriting before the Department secretary
• Obtain signatures of four reputable witnesses who will certify that they know the applicant personally
• Provide a sworn statement that no money has been paid
• Meet with the department medical examiner for a physical exam and meet basic requirements for height, weight, chest circumference.
• The application then goes to the Battalion Chief in whose district the applicant resides, who is required to make inquiries as to his character and reputation
• If the battalion chief's report is favorable, the applicant is referred to the Civil Service Board in the Cooper Institute for a series of strength and agility tests. A score of 60 or above is passing.
• This is followed by a oral and written examination which includes reading, writing from dictation, and a general intelligence test. A score of 70 is passing.
• If the applicant passes both civil service exams, his name is placed on a list with his percentage, and holds his place on the list for a year.
• Positions are filled from this list. Newly hired firemen are placed on probation. During this time they perform fire duty at night in their company, and attend classes at the School of Instruction from 10am to 4pm.
• At the end of the month they take final examination, and if they pass they are hired as a fireman, third grade. Taller men are eligible to serve on Hook & Ladder companies. After serving a year they are eligible for promotion to fireman second grade with a salary of $1000.

"The Civil Service examination for New York fireman" an illustration accompanying the Harpers Weekly article "Testing Fireman."






A New York Times article from 1890 listing the steps to becoming a New York Fireman.

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

NEW FIREHOUSE ON 113TH STREET


When Engine Company No. 47 moved north to its newly completed firehouse on April 1st, 1891, it occupied one of the first urban buildings on Morningside Heights. In very little time the urban neighborhood we know today would rise around it.

The fire department was in midst of an intense building period, and would build 42 buildings, all designed by Napoleon LeBrun and Sons, between 1880 and 1895. These new firehouses incorporated the latest technology: drying towers for the hoses, sliding poles for speed, spiral staircases to minimize space, electrified stalls for rapid deployment of horses, with dormitories, office space, and improved storage to house a new professional force that served on continuous duty. The new houses were generally built on midblock lots of 25 feet. The apparatus, horses and house watch desk were located on the ground floor, the dormitories and captain's office were on the second floor, and closets and the sitting/reading area were located on the third floor.

Although they followed a similar functional plan, nearly every building is unique, and many have been given landmark status. The exterior of Engine Company No. 47 was made a landmark in 1997.




Engine Company No. 47 and Croton Aqueduct Gate House. Photo: George F. Mand Library.



From the Landmarks Preservation Report:

"Stylistically, it combines features of Romanesque Revival and Classical Revival styles, representing a transition between architectural movements at the turn of the century…. Built early in the period of intense growth in northern Manhattan, this firehouse represents the city's commitment to the civic character of essential municipal services."

"Base: A cast iron frame encompasses the building's large vehicular entrance, centered between the pedestrian doorway on the west and the house watch window on the east. A Tripartite transom lights each of these openings… The cast-iron frame incorporates fishscale motifs, sunflower motifs, and wave motifs in the lintel above the transoms. A protruding brownstone course terminates the brownstone base."

"Upper Stories: The second and third stories are faced with orange-colored brick. Diaper-patterned terra cotta creates the effect of coins, and continues across the facade, outlining the round-arched windows of the third story. The second and third story fenestration is boldly defined. The one-over-one hung windows with metal-framed replacement sash are divided by thick piers, but share a common brownstone sill, transom bar, and lintel. The third-story one-over-one round-arched windows share a common sill, and are highlighted by the terra-cotta detailing above. A brownstone plaque set between the second and third stories bears the names of the Fire Commissioners and architects. The facade is finished with a richly ornamented terra-cotta entablature below a heavy cornice. Foliate terra cotta medallions are prominently played between the terra-cotta arch outline and the entablature."

Morningside Heights in 1891. In this map brick buildings are pink, wood buildings are yellow, and stone buildings are gray.

When Engine Company No. 47 moved north to its newly completed firehouse on April 1st, 1891, it occupied one of the first urban buildings on Morningside Heights. In very little time the urban neighborhood we know today would rise around it.



The firehouse in July 2015.

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

DAILY LIFE

On April 1st, 1891, Engine Company No. 47 moved north to occupy the new firehouse on 113th Street. The payroll for that month lists these members of the company: Foreman Lawrence Murphy, Assistant Foremen Samuel Reeve and Henry Schuck, Engineers James H. Hood and James Young, and Firemen Washington Ryer, Charles Shordon, James K. P. Robinson, Michael Strout, Rossman Huested, William Donnelly, William Corcoran, and Edward J. Browne.

Continuous Duty

From 1865 to 1920, firemen in New York City served continuous duty, which meant they served 24 hours a day, with three hours off for meals. These three hours (sometimes only two and a half) were their only chance to leave the firehouse to see their families. In 1891 firemen received one day of leave for every ten days worked and 14 days of vacation each year. Many attempts were made to secure a two-platoon system to give fireman a more normal life with their families. In 1903, Mayor Seth Low vetoed a two-platoon bill that had passed both houses of the legislature, though the Fire Department did increase the force to give firemen three leaves of 36 hours and three leaves of 24 hours each month.

Continuous duty finally ended when the two platoon system was adopted in 1919 (General Orders 12, Oct 7) and was fully implemented by October 1920. Under the two platoon system, firemen served either 9am to 6pm or 6pm to 9am and received 24 hours leave after every 6 tours of duty. [4] Engine Company No. 47 made the transition to the two-platoon system in January 1920.





Third floor of the Engine 47 quarters, with closets and seating area. The top of the spiral staircase is visible on the right, illuminated by east windows. Photo: George F. Mand Library.

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

Rules and Regulations

The Rules and Regulations, reissued in 1881 and frequently updated by General Orders, governed all aspects of life in the firehouse and at fires. They included directions for officers and firemen, and detailed instructions on the care of apparatus and horses.

House Watch

One fireman was always on watch duty. He was required to sit at the watch desk and record everything that happened during his shift in the company journal. The fireman on watch duty remained at the firehouse and did not leave to fight fires. The Rules and Regulations gave precise instructions for the Housewatchman (General Orders 19), and for making reports in the company journal (General Orders 13).

Each firemen had a tour of duty on house watch. There were 5 tours of duty, 8am to 1pm, 1pm to 6pm, 6pm to midnight, midnight to 6am, and 6am to 8am. Two firemen worked the night shift, and they were responsible for caring for the horses and keeping the equipment running.




A company journal for the morning of April 26 1895, recording fire alarms, firemen leaving and returning to quarters, and deliveries of coal. This journal, of Engine Company 25, is on display in the FDNY Training Center on Randall's Island.

Discipline

Firemen were subject to trial before the Fire Commissioner for violating regulations. The City Record and city newspapers often listed the disposition of these trials. Punishments usually included the loss of pay or leave time, and those found guilty were sometimes transferred to another fire station.

In this article from 1910, Battalion Chief Howe found firemen drinking at the Bernheimer & Schwartz Brewery at 126th and Amsterdam. Thomas Bennett though not present at the brewery, had been on watch duty and was found guilty of neglect for failing to record that William Barron had left quarters, and was fined three days pay. The firemen found in the brewery were charged with conduct prejudicial to good order.

Department Regulations specifically prohibited entering a "place where spiritous, malt, or intoxicating beverages of any kind are sold, for meals or for any purpose whatever, except in the strict discharge of public duty."






Leisure

When not fighting fires, serving watch duty, caring for horses, equipment, or the firehouse; delivering messages, patrolling the neighborhood, or inspecting hydrants and alarm-boxes, firemen gathered on the third floor of quarters. Chairs, except for the housewatchman's chair, were not permitted on the apparatus floor or in front of the firehouse.


Cards and Games

The 1881 rules specifically forbade gambling in quarters, but made no other mention of card playing. In 1884 the rules were amended to forbid card playing after midnight.




In 1884, General Orders No. 7 directed captains to forbid card-playing and other games after midnight.

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

Pets

The rules permitted a single pet (cat, dog, or bird) but not more than one, though this does not seem to have been widely enforced.





Libraries

In 1898, The New York Free Circulating Library began lending books to fire stations through its Traveling Library Department. Three years later it merged with the New York Public Library, which continued the work through its Travelling Library Office, publishing circulation statistics in its Annual Report. In 1902, 142 books were circulated to Engine Company No. 47, by 1909 the number had grown to 254 books.

In 1911, Rev. Edward Knapp, a Fire Department chaplain, successfully applied to Margaret Olivia (Mrs. Russell) Sage for a gift of $10,000 to purchase technical books “dealing with subjects the firemen meet in their civil service exams” and for bookcases in which to keep them. These technical books would belong to each firehouse and supplement the popular literature circulated by the New York Public Library. The new bookcases would be large enough to house both collections, and New York Public Library was charged with selecting these technical titles for the new Sage Memorial Library cases.

The three Fire Department chaplains presented Mrs. Sage with this resolution of thanks:

"This gift will prove of inestimable benefit to every member of the fire department; will do much to stimulate the mental development of the men; will go far toward relieving the monotony of their life in quarters; and in every way will influence them to a better conception of their work and duties."

A photograph of firemen in 1910 with a library bookcase on the table. It does not identify the company, and though it is not Engine 47 quarters, it is clearly taken on the third floor of LeBrun-designed firehouse, with the windows, pressed tin ceiling and cabinets.




Bookplate: "A tribute to the brave firemen who with courage and fidelity have given and are giving their lives to protect and save life and property in this great citiy." Courtesy: George F. Mand Library




Men at Fire House No. 26 reading, July 29, 1910.




Resolutions of thanks from the Fire Department Chaplains. Annual Report, 1911



Circular 11: "On Monday of each week the senior Assistant Foreman of each company will examine the condition of all books" and make a report to the librarian of the borough in which the company is located. Courtesy: George F. Mand Library

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

THE LAST FIRE HORSES IN MANHATTAN



This photograph, taken on August 25th, 1920, was published in the Sun and New York Herald Rotrogravure Section on Sunday September 5, 1920. Photo: George F. Mand Library.


Motorization of the Fire Department began in 1911, with the acquisition of one motor-driven steam pumping engine, one gasoline motor and pumping engine, one motor propelled water tower, eight high-pressure hose wagons, and more than thirty other vehicles, mostly cars and trucks.[

In August the Fire Department opened an Automobile Training School, offering twenty days of mechanical instruction and five days driving instruction followed by a test, and for the first time and only time, the cover of the Annual Report carried a picture, of two fire horses.

At the close of 1919, 66% percent of the apparatus in service was motorized, with 159 motor engines, and 76 horse drawn carriages. As motorized engines were introduced, the newspapers carried stories celebrating the fire horses, with many accounts of retired horses recognizing the fire alarm bells and racing to fires pulling their milk carts behind them.

On August 25, 1920, Engine Company No. 47 was the last company in Manhattan to be motorized. The Fire Commissioner and Department chiefs Kenlon and Murphy were there to pose with the full company. None of the men in the pictures are named, but the Tribune supplied the names of the horses: Mutt, Jeff, Doc, Carl, and Carnot.





Cover of the 1911 Fire Department Annual Report, the year the department acquired its first motorized steam engine.




"The Fire Horse, First Aid to Melodrama, Will Soon Respond to His Last Alarm," New York Tribune, January 4, 1920




The caption reads: "The last of Manhattan's famous fire horses pass. The teams of Engine Company No. 47, 113th Street near Broadway, just before their final call on August 25. They answered a false alarm, motor apparatus backed into the firehouse and the horse drawn equipment trundled away to a suburban post."




This front page story listed the horses by name: Mutt, Jeff, Doc, Carl, and Carnot. "Last Five Manhattan Fire Horses Make Way for Motor Apparatus." New York Tribune, August 26, 1920.

 

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ENGINE 47 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 47 HISTORY

ROSTER OF APPARATUS

Date Received Roster of Apparatus
10/14/1881 1877 Amoskeag 3rd Size
10/14/1881 1865 Amoskeag 2 Wheel Hose Tender
8/07/1882 1882 Repair Shops Roller Frame 50 Ft
10/22/1883 1883 J U Bauchelle 4 Wheel Hose Tender
6/14/1888 1884 Clapp & Jones 4th Size
9/04/1895 1889 LaFrance 3rd Size (Nest Tube 30"x60")
7/30/1898 1898 Sebastian 2nd Size Hose Wagon
8/21/1903 1903 Nott 3rd Size
3/01/1905 1905 American LaFrance 2nd Size (Metropolitan) Steamer
9/26/1907 1907 Rech Marbecker 1st Size Hose Wagon
8/18/1920 1920 American LaFrance 700 GPM
6/1/1933 1931 American LaFrance 700 GPM
10/03/1951 1951 Ward LaFrance 750 GPM Booster
7/5/1959 1958 Mack 750 GPM Booster (Closed Cab)
9/15/1969 1969 Mack 1000 GPM (Diesel)
4/3/1979 1978 Mack 1000 GPM (Diesel)
7/18/1985 1984 Mack 1000 GPM Ward Body Red & White Paint
10/6/1994 1994 Seagrave 1000 GPM
6/02/2004 2003 Seagrave 1000 GPM





An Amoskeag two-wheel hose tender, pulled by one horse and with only room to carry the driver. It carried sixteen lengths of rubber 2 1/2" hose. A box in the rear carried extra fuel for the steam engine.






Engine Company 47 responding with their 1889 third size La France steamer. Captain John J. Gaw stands on the rear step. Christopher Maguire is the chauffeur. Third-size steamers pumped at 500-600 gallons per minute. Photo: Geroge F. Mand Library.





1905 American LaFrance 2nd Size (Metropolitan) Steamer, August 1920. Second-size steamers pumped at 700-800 gallons per minute. Photo: George F. Mand Library.





Rech Marbecker 1st Size Hose Wagon, August 1920. Photo: George F. Mand Library.





1920 American LaFrance 700 GPM, August 25. 1920. Photo: George F. Mand Library.





Ward LaFrance 1951 750 GPM Booster Pump. Photo: Jack Lerch. Courtesy: George F. Mand Library.