Port Townsend's Historic Fire Bell Tower

JEFFERSON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
JCHS Mission: To actively discover, collect, preserve, and promote the heritage of Jefferson County in the State of Washington.

Historic photo of Bell Tower on bluff in background

Bell Tower on hill (top left)

Restored Fire Bell Tower in a rare snow storm
Restored Fire Bell Tower during a rare snow storm.

Fire Bell Tower Receives
State Historic Preservation Award

In March of 2004 the Washington State Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) named Port Townsend's Fire Bell Tower, restored by the Jefferson County Historical Society and the City of Port Townsend, as the recipient of the 2004 State Historic Preservation Officer's Award for Resource Stewardship.

Port Townsend's Bell Tower is a 75-ft. wooden tower originally constructed in 1890 to hold a 1,500 lb. brass bell. An elaborate mechanized ringing system in the tower alerted early Fire Department volunteers to locations of fires by tolling the bell in code. This system enabled volunteers to proceed directly to the fire instead of meeting at the downtown fire station. The Bell Tower system served the community until the 1920s.

In 2000, the Jefferson County Historical Society (JCHS) secured funds for a feasibility study for restoring the Fire Bell Tower from the the Kimberly Ruth Corporation. This marked the beginning of years of bimonthly meetings of JCHS' Facilities Committee, comprised of Charles Wiggins, Barbara Marseille, Amy Hiatt, Vern Leckman, Tony Harriman, Harry Dudley and Niki Clark, who kept moving the project along. JCHS also generated $116,000 in grants and $30,000 in private donations to partner with the City in completing this project.

"Of course we are extremely pleased to win this prestigious award for historic preservation and stewardship," said Bill Tennent, director for JCHS." It's been a good collaboration between the City and our volunteers who have donated hundreds of hours to the Bell Tower's restoration."

JCHS spearheaded the restoration project of the Bell Tower and worked in close collaboration with the City of Port Townsend and the State of Washington, with JCHS working to assure that all plans and work complied with the Secretary of Interior's strict Standards for Restoration of Historic Structures. Hoch Construction, from Port Angeles, did the restoration of the Bell Tower and has received rave reviews for their work from the City, along with Pete Langley, owner of PT Foundry, who restored the bell itself.

Bell Tower History

The Port Townsend Fire Department had its beginnings prior to the 1890s, but its earliest official records begin in 1889, although we can now trace the department back to 1872.
"Key City (Enterprise) Hose Company No. 1 began operation in a wooden station house on the back of a downtown brewery between Madison and Monroe Streets.

Port Townsend’s first Fire Chief was D.H. Hill, and his legion of volunteers were equipped with a horse-drawn Silsby hose cart. It was soon apparent that the fire department was in need of two things: an engine house for their new $900 chemical engine, and a method of alerting Hill and his "fire boys" to the alarm of a fire. At the suggestion of Hill's son N.D. Hill, these were combined in a bell tower and station structure that was built on a bluff at the intersection of Tyler and Jefferson Streets.

This 'top of the bluff' location enabled the fire department to avoid scaling the steep grades each time there was an alarm in the uptown district of the rapidly growing city.

The January 1, 1890, issue of the Morning Leader newspaper reported:

"The contract has been let for a new engine house for the chemical [sic] engine and bell tower on Tyler and Jefferson Streets. The bell tower will be 50 feet high, and it is presumed by the thinking part of the community that an electric light will be suspended from the lofty superstructure which being on the hill will shine to splendid advantage."

The unique and dynamic structure, at the time it was built, could have hardly been considered "architecture," for the only condescension to fashion was the use of decorative brackets at the corners of the roof. But it was functional!! The batter of the walls and superstructure gave a pyramidal profile to the structure. Though undoubtedly done as a bracing device to counteract the strong winds, it endowed the little tower with the structural honesty and engaging eccentricity far removed from the almost self-conscious, eclectically decorated, formal architecture of that era.

"Key City Hose Company No. 2" was established in 1892, and operated from an uptown residence at the corner of Garfield and Harrison Streets. George Lake was the "driver" of the station's hose cart that was hand-drawn by the volunteers. As many as ten men could pull the cart, and one man was quoted as saying that he "never ran so fast in his life" as the time he helped pull the hose cart to a fire!

In October of 1889, the American Telegraph Company was given authority to erect poles and string wires, the poles to be equipped with boxes containing signaling devices for the transmission of fire alarms.

A new City Hall was dedicated on July 4, 1892. Included as part of the structure was a new fire station, complete with the traditional brass pole. The new station was soon equipped with an American steam fire engine. This apparatus was horse-drawn and capable of pumping 1,500 gallons of water per minute.

The Silsby hose cart was then housed in the newly completed Bell Tower "station." Hose Company No. 2 remained at its uptown residential location.

In 1889, improvements to the City's fire alarm system were made. This equipment shows the very early use of electricity in communication. One of the units on display at the current firehouse was granted a patent in 1868, and all equipment was designed prior to the invention of the electric motor, light, telephone, or radio. At the time this equipment was developed, the only practical use of electricity was the telegraph, where the human hand used a telegraph key to send Morse code. Fire telegraphic alarms represent an early attempt to automate this process.

Gamewell, Co. "Excelsior" model street-side fire alarm boxes were installed at strategic public access locations throughout the City, and by 1933, twenty-one such boxes were in service. Next to the box was a small case with a glass front. When a fire was detected, one would break the glass and remove a key to open the box. Inside the box was a small lever one pulled, which lifted an iron weight. This weight furnished the energy that turned a number of gears. The gears turned a small cog with raised points acting as a telegraph key sending out a coded signal down the wire to the downtown firehouse.

A Gamewell Co. "indicator unit" and "code-wheel transmitter" was also installed in the downtown firehouse. Once an alarm box signal was received, the indicator box used the signal in different ways. First, it rang the attached 14-inch brass bell in a timed pattern. Second, this signal was decoded and the specific alarm box number was displayed clearly on the front of the indicator unit. Lastly, the decoded signal was sent to a "Paper Tape" unit to record the code number. Firefighters arriving at the fire hall after the bell had stopped, only had to look at the indicator, check the number, and rush off to the location of the fire.

Without telephone or radio to inform the volunteer firefighters of the location of the fire, only the firefighters at the fire station knew of the location. The fire bell at the Bell Tower was thus used to sound the alarm all over town.

Using the number on the indicator, a Bell Ringer unit was used to transmit to the Bell Tower the coded location of the pull-box alarm. Selecting one of dozens of coin-shaped gears, each numbered corresponding to the alarm box numbers, and placing the gear in the bell ringer unit mechanism accomplished this. One would then select the number of times the bell ringer should cycle the coded signal, that is, whether it be a one, two, or three alarm fire.

Because this equipment was very primitive, wires having poor insulation, and that gears would often stick, a strange number sequence required some form of backup alarm verification. A Paper Tape unit (mechanical paper punch device) was used to record the decoded signal from the indicator unit.

From an article by James Hermanson,
Port Townsend Jefferson County Leader, May 11, 1994

The present fire bell is the last of at least two which served the community through the years. The first was mounted on a small tower at the corner of Adams and Jefferson but had to be moved when the street was graded.

The present bell tower was built in 1890. An article in The Leader under the date January 1 of that year stated that the structure was to be 50 feet in height and support a 1,500-pound bell. There was to be space on the main level for a chemical engine and other miscellaneous fire equipment.

The number of rings was designed to inform volunteers what area the fire was in and the sequence could be repeated up to three times. This was handled by an ingenious remote-controlled device located in the fire hall.

While many long-term residents remember the bell being used, I have been unable to determine when it was discontinued.

An article in The Leader under the date of February 5, 1942, reported that the tower was becoming unstable and consideration was being given to replacing the bell with a whistle. Apparently this was not done. It possibly remained in use until the new fire station was built in 1948, thought this is conjecture.

By 1950, demolition was considered due to the structure's poor condition. However, the Jefferson County Historical Society was able to complete emergency repairs. But by 1970, it was again in danger of collapse. A major drive was undertaken to raise the $9,000 necessary to replace the four supporting legs and other needed repairs. Appeals were made for individual and group donations. Port Townsend and surrounding communities cooperated in fundraising through auctions, lectures, dinners, etc. Renovation was completed in November 1971.

In April of this year, the tower was given a new coat of paint, courtesy of Trees for Port Townsend, a local beautification organization.

Currently housed on the main level is a gurney (taxi) brought to Port Townsend in 1882, a horse-drawn hearse used by George Starrett and a sleigh. A time capsule, scheduled to be opened in the year 2057, has been placed to the right of the building by the Historical Society.

Equipment History

At this point, it would be of interest to briefly look at a history of the Port Townsend Fire Department which has been a division of city government for approximately 114 years.

Its antecedents go back even earlier. Apparently the first organized group was formed by John T. Norris, a local tinsmith and hardware dealer, under the name of Fire Rescue Unit No. 1. By 1880, it became an official municipal organization which assumed the group's assets as well as debts of $530. The department was in rented space until completion of the City Hall in 1892 where it remained for the next 66 years.

Early equipment included an American LaFrance steam pumper, a horse-drawn hook and ladder wagon, chemical engine and a number of hose carts. Apparently there was also an auxiliary station on Harrison Street. Since the pumper was fueled with coal, supplies of this were kept at various locations, as were the hose carts.

In 1889, a Gamewell fire alarm system was installed with boxes placed at strategic locations. When the lever was pulled it activated an alarm at the station. While out of use for many years the original console is still at the station. For display purposes firemen recently returned it to operating condition using a box mounted on the wall adjacent to it.

Just prior to World War I, the first self-propelled equipment went into service, a Moreland hose truck and a Model T fire engine.

By 1929, a Mack joined the fleet. For its day this was a formidable piece of equipment with its 1,000 gallons per minute pump. It remained in local service until the 1950s and then saw duty at Port Ludlow.

In 1941, a Howard Cooper Corp. rig built on a Chevrolet chassis was added, followed by other equipment, including a 1946 aerial ladder truck. Recent major additions occurred in 1988 and 1989. A Sutphen pumper and a 90-foot aerial tower truck now form the backbone of equipment.

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