First Fire Engine House

First Fire Engine House (HM2MSH)

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N 47° 49.035', W 110° 40.046'

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Inscription
"Fire" was a cry dreaded by any Westerner, and early Fort Benton was no exception. Flimsy wooden buildings, haystacks, kerosene lamps and primitive stoves created major fire hazards. When city government was organized in 1883, the first steps in fire protection included this structure, built on contract by John Wilton for $1710. Later it doubled as the City Hall until 1966.
Chouteau Engine Company No. 1 organized, held practices, firemen's balls, and waited for the pumper that had been brought to Cow Island by steamboat. When freighters got around to brining it to Fort Benton, the paint was peeling and a wheel was missing. Nevertheless, it was Fort Benton's pride.
The firemen repaired it, sat it on Mike Lynch's ferry boat, and tried to pump a stream of water over the rooster weathervane on the old Record Building a block away. It served faithfully, going second-hand to Lewiston and eventually returning to Fort Benton for restoration in 1988.
Details
HM NumberHM2MSH
Tags
Placed ByFort Benton Community Improvement Association
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, November 9th, 2019 at 10:01pm PST -08:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)12T E 524895 N 5296042
Decimal Degrees47.81725000, -110.66743333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 47° 49.035', W 110° 40.046'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds47° 49' 2.0999999999998" N, 110° 40' 2.76" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling East
Closest Postal AddressAt or near , ,
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