Steam Engines—A Brief History

Steam Engines—A Brief History (HM2BM1)

Location: Richmond, MI 48062 Macomb County
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Country: United States of America
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N 42° 48.763', W 82° 45.515'

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Inscription
Horse drawn steam fire engines first appeared in the United States in the early 1850's. The steamers pumped 500 to 1,000 gallons of water per minute. They weighed as much as ten tons using three horses to pull them.

Along with the steamers came a very historical event - the beginning of the first paid fire departments. At first fire departments rented horses from livery stables or used any horses that were available at the time of the fire. Eventually large communities realized that it would be to their advantage to have their own teams of well-trained horses ready at all times. The romantic era of the bright steam engines pulled by spirited horses had begun.

The horses used were carefully chosen for their important job. They were matched in size and color so they could pull evenly and also be attractive in appearance. The personality of the horse was another important consideration. There was no place in the service for an easily frightened "Nervous Nellie". Horses were carefully trained and they became as dedicated to their jobs as human firefighters. Retired fire horses were often sold as wagon horses. It sometimes happened that a delivery man would return from an errand to find his retired fire horse and his wagon clattering away after a steamer on its way to a fire!


About the Mural

The



mural is 12' high by 24' wide and took 180 hours to paint. It was painted by Alison Harly and Jerry Papuga in April, 1991. Construction and erection was done by the fire department under the direction of Harold Teska. TIFA of Richmond funded the project.


The original mural has been replaced by a replica done on a vinyl computerized machine in 2017 by Printall Graphics of Richmond.
Details
HM NumberHM2BM1
Tags
Year Placed1991
Placed ByRichmond Fire Department
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, September 24th, 2018 at 8:01am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
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Steam Engines—A Brief History
42.81271667, -82.75858333
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17T E 356224 N 4741517
Decimal Degrees42.81271667, -82.75858333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 42° 48.763', W 82° 45.515'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds42° 48' 45.78" N, 82° 45' 30.9" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)586, 810
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling South
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 69465 M-19, Richmond MI 48062, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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