Stop 2 – Nebraska City Fire Company Number One

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THE COMPANY

Nebraska City Fire Company Number One was organized in eighteen sixty-five, in McLellan's Hall. It faded after a short time, but in eighteen seventy-two some of its men joined with members of the Great Western Fire Company to form a new company, located at Sixth Street and First Corso. That partnership lasted less than three years before splitting apart again in eighteen seventy-four.

The company later made its home in the new City Hall and Engine House on Sixth Street, between First Avenue and Central Avenue.

Its charter officers included W. R. Hickey as captain and Mike Bauer as first engineer. Interestingly, Hickey was also the Town Marshal at the time, and Bauer was his deputy. You'll hear much more about Mike Bauer as you go through the museum.

In the photograph at the top, four members pose in their fire helmets: Len Keith, Frank Ott, Ben Parker, and Charles Parker. The picture was accidentally reversed when it was reprinted in nineteen thirty-seven, and the original tintype has been lost to history.

PAYING FOR THE EQUIPMENT

In the early days, the fire companies had to raise their own money. Some even built their own ladders.

Members of the Otoe Hook and Ladder Company paid dues of ten cents a month, and new members paid a fifty-cent initiation fee. At one point the Great Western Fire Company sold shares of stock to buy equipment. You can see one of those stock certificates on this panel. Local citizens and businesses chipped in too.

The biggest fundraisers were dances. The first was held in eighteen sixty-six. Usually the companies marched in a parade before the ball, every fireman in full uniform, with the Silver Cornet Band leading the way.

Take a look at the newspaper ad for the Grand Masquerade Ball at the German Opera House, from February of eighteen seventy-four. Tickets were one dollar, and there's a note at the bottom: everyone had to raise their mask before they'd be allowed into the hall.

The money went to more than equipment. In eighteen seventy-eight, a dance and Fourth of July celebration raised enough to buy a new bell for the City Hall and Engine House.