Two-Wheel Fire Hose Reel
Hereford, Deaf Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Hereford's mid-1913 equipment to fight fires. Hand-propelled, or (at a $5 bonus) hauled by the auto or horses of a bystander. Reel cost only $133, but in two months was discarded: a motor truck with ladders was bought. Prior to 1913 the fire wagon in almost every Texas town was drawn by a fine team of horses, trained to trot into place at sound of the fire whistle. The fire wagon charged down dirt streets with smoke billowing and horses at a dead gallop. After multi-million dollar fires, 1909-1912, Texas cities wanted better fire equipment. (1967)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1913 the young Panhandle town of Hereford bought a hand-propelled hose reel for $133 to battle fires — a bystander might even hitch it to a horse or automobile for a $5 bonus. Within two months it was obsolete, cast aside for a motorized truck with ladders, a leap prompted by the multi-million-dollar blazes that swept Texas cities from 1909 to 1912. The marker captures the exact moment horse-drawn fire wagons galloping down dirt streets gave way to the machine age.
Why it matters
It preserves a vivid snapshot of American towns modernizing almost overnight, as motorized equipment swept away the era of galloping fire teams.
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