Here's another event that was timed to take place during the All-Class Reunion that was not part of the WHS Activities Committee plans. It was an added attraction that gave everyone the opportunity to visit the preserved, historic fire station. Members of the Friends of the Old Fire Station have been hard at it for months cleaning & sprucing up the place. On Wednesday & Thursday, June 30 & July 1, they had the place spic & span and ready for Open House visitors.
Featured at the old fire station was a Village owned 1950 Seagraves fire truck and a 1941 Chevy fire truck owned by Friends Historian Bob Lloyd. Both trucks have long been retired from service. The 1941 Chevy was the first truck ever purchased by the Wellsville Volunteer Fire Dept. Lloyd also had photo albums chuck full of pictures documenting Wellsville's Fire Department history back to the late 1800s. Also featured was the first bell used as a fire alarm in the town.
The old fire station was built in 1867 as the first Catholic Church in town for the Immaculate Conception Parish. When the Catholics moved to their new facilities in 1906 the building was given to the Village to be used as a fire house. The Fire Department moved into the building in 1908. They remained there until the late 1970s when they moved to their present location at 1201 Main St. The building was then used for storage until the mid-1980s when the Friends committee was formed and petitioned City Council to let them preserve the building as a historic structure.
The bell shown in the collage above is believed to be the first bell used to ring out fire alarms in town. According to Historian Lloyd there is some confusion whether the bell was left behind from the old church or the one donated to the town in the 1880s by the Wellsville School District. It is believed to be the latter.
In the 1880s the Wellsville Mayor asked that the old school bell be donated to the town for use as an alarm for fires. At the time the FD was located on 5th St. and was a private firm called the Silver Co. Once they had the bell a contractor was hired to build a bell tower in the Market Center located at 5th & Main. The 5th St. station was just a shed along the alley to store the fire fighting equipment. When the City Hall was built kaddy corner across Main from the Market Center that FD was moved there. The bell was relocated in a tower at the rear of the new City Hall. We forgot to ask when the City took over the Fire Department with their own personnel.
In 1890 Wellsville purchased an alarm system that automatically rang out the number of the call box. Numbered call boxes were scattered throughout the town that identified the area of the fire. If the alarm came in from box 25 the bell would ring twice, pause and ring five more times. A picture of a drawing of the system is shown in the collage. The bell and the automatic system was moved to the new fire station near 9th St. in 1908. It was used until some time in 1928 when the town went to a siren system. Parts of the old automatic system call board have been preserved and are on display at Wellsville's River Museum.
That bell shown above in the custom made stand is on display at the Old Fire Station. Sitting on the floor of the old station it has been stored there for years. Our good neighbors at Stevenson Manufacturing designed, built & decorated the custom made stand in time for the open house. Now it can easily be moved around.
We hoped you were able to stop in and visit the old station during reunion week. If those walls could talk they would be able to add a lot of information about several WHS alumni.
ole nib
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