Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Mass.

Title

Horse drawn ladder truck, Wakefield rattan factory, 1900

Description

"The Wakefield Fire Department purchased its first horse-drawn ladder truck from the Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire in 1892, replacing an 1871 hand-drawn ladder truck. The new truck was placed into service on July 4, 1893 with its predecessor loaned to the Wakefield Rattan Company. The horse-drawn ladder truck is shown without its ladders at a fire at the factory on May 4, 1900. The 'Washington Hook and Ladder,' a double-ladder bank, city-service truck, was used by the Hook and Ladder Company No.1. The horse-drawn truck was spared from the Hathaway Stable Fire that destroyed 18 buildings including the Central Fire Station in October 23, 1899, along with its fire alarm system, 1852 Jeffers hand tub, and 1895 supply wagon. It was among the first inhabitants of the new brick Central Fire Station on Crescent Street when it opened on December 22, 1900. The 1892 Abbot-Downing ladder truck was replaced in September, 1914 by a Peerless city-service type ladder truck." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.

Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2004

Photo courtesy of Murray Young.

Contributor

Institution: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (Wakefield, Mass.)

D'Onofrio, Jayne M.

Coverage

Massachusetts--Middlesex (county)--Wakefield

Date

1900

Format

image/jpeg

Publisher

[Wakefield, Mass.] : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department

Subject

Wakefield (Mass.). Fire Department

Fire engines

Type

still image

Photographs

Original Format

1 picture : b&w

Extent

16 x 31 cm.