Return to Reflections index page
issue date - August 28, 2005
|
| Return to Reflections index page
|
| From the Gowanda PennySaver News "Reflections" series compiled by Mary Pankow. issue date - August 28, 2005 |
|
|
|
Gowanda Firemen, 1948 - These longtime Gowanda firemen posed next to an antique steam-engine pumper in front of the Municipal Building during the 1948 Gowanda Centennial. From left to right are Charles Smith, Lawrence Andolsek and Louis Schlotzer. The horse-drawn “steamer” burned soft coal and was still in use during the Eaton’s furniture store fire on East Main Street, March 15, 1940. When it was taken out of service, it left Gowanda and is now at the Museum of Firefighting in Hudson, New York. The Friendship, New York fire department is in the process of having their 1881 Silsby Steam Fire Pumper fully restored by a company in Michigan. One of the original purchase specifications was that it had to be able to pump water over the roof of a church. In the background is the former Plumb Block, one of few buildings left standing downtown after the great fire of 1856. The corner of the block was occupied in 1948 by Ella’s Kitchen, a restaurant run by Ella Grimm. That’s the Gowanda Police squad car parked next to the pumper.
|