1837 Hand Pumper

History Of The Hand Pumper

The idea of a volunteer fire department in Monroe County was first marked in Stroudsburg over 100 years ago, and it spread like wildfire.

The oldest formal volunteer fire companies started in the urban center of the county - in Stroudsburg (1865 for the Phoenix Fire Co.) and East Stroudsburg (1890 for Acme Hose Co. No. 1).

Not long afterwards, fire companies were formed to protect major local industries and surrounding homes, such as the Blue Ridge Hook and Ladder Co. charted in 1902 to protect the Blue Ridge Brick Factory in Saylorsburg and the Delaware Water Gap Chemical and Hose Co. formed in 1908 for the protection of resorts in that town.

Of the 20 volunteer fire companies in Monroe County, most were formed after the two World Wars.

Firefighting has never been an easy job, but in the old days it was especially difficult because of poor or inadequate equipment: Bucket Brigades were used at first, followed by pump carts pulled and operated by hand (Acme Hose Co.'s 1837 pump cart is the oldest firefighting machine in Monroe County).

For many years in the late 1800s and early 1900s Stroudsburg's horse-drawn steam pumper was the only firefighting machine in the county that did not depend on human muscle to produce a stream of water. Even the first motor-drawn fire trucks had to be hand started, a task that sometimes only the strongest men in the company could perform.

This pumper, built in 1837, was originally at the Elkhorn Tannery at the end of Kistler Street, East Stroudsburg, PA. In 1936, the Tannery closed and the pumper was turned over to Acme Hose Co. No. 1 with George Englehart as the Chief.

The Company had David Carlton, a member of the Company, restore the pumper to its original condition. The wheels were recast at a local foundry.

The pumper has a 2-1/2" suction and a 1-1/2" discharge. the pump made by Westerman Pump Co. in Genova, is still in working condition and has been used in firefighting demonstrations. The pumper has taken prizes in several firefighter's parades.