Nebraska City firefighter museum nearly finished
Posted: Monday, February 04, 2008
NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) -- Members of the Nebraska City Volunteer Fire Department heed the call on a bitterly cold winter night.
They've come not to wield hoses and ladders, but cordless drills and caulk guns. They've arrived for a work night at the Nebraska City Museum of Firefighting and Education.
Doing most of the work themselves, the firefighters have made a lot of progress in the past 2.5 years. Their collection of historic firefighting equipment -- some of it 152 years old -- is on display. Narrative panels on the walls tell the history of what is considered the oldest Nebraska fire department in continuous existence.
With the grand opening less than three months away, there's still plenty to do, mostly finishing touches and detail work.
"I'm glad it's finally happened," said Corey Swanson, 21, who grew up in the firehouse because his late father, Chuck, was a longtime chief of the department.
Firefighters started talking about building a museum when Swanson was a 1-year-old.
Bob Schreiner, 73, remembers those discussions because he joined the department when he was just 25. He also remembers the frustration he and others felt over never being able to get the project going.
"I never envisioned anything like this," he said. "I envisioned a building with our collection stuffed in it."
The story began well before Nebraska's entry into the Union in 1867.
In 1854, Nebraska City was settled in the territory as a supply depot for those seeking fortune on the frontier. Soon, a modest collection of houses and storefronts emerged on high ground above the banks of the Missouri River.
Nothing threatened the development of a frontier community like fire, which could wipe out entire business districts, as well as the will of townspeople to rebuild.
In 1856, a merchant by the name of A.F. Mollring mustered Nebraska City's first volunteer firefighters. It was actually a bucket brigade, which consisted of leather buckets and a dozen short ladders strategically placed in the downtown, plus the volunteers necessary to man bucket lines.
The museum includes a display of some of those leather buckets.
In subsequent years as the city grew, firefighters formed the Otoe Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, the Nebraska City Fire Company No. 1 and the Great Western Fire Company No. 1, all in different areas of the city to provide fire protection.
The companies, which exist today in name only, were coordinated by a single chief and were eventually merged.
The museum is organized to show how firefighting equipment evolved after the bucket brigade.
Some of the prized pieces include an 1861 hand pumper and an 1868 ladder wagon, both of which were pulled by firefighters through the mud and ruts of unpaved streets.
Tom Schreiner, who, like his brother, Bob, has been on the department for nearly 50 years, said it's hard to imagine the physical hardships his predecessors faced in trying to save lives and property.
For a period in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the department used horse-drawn equipment.
The earliest motorized equipment on display is a 1926 Seagrave pumper, which could spray 750 gallons per minute less than half the amount of a modern engine.
"And it all runs," said Dennis Marshall, first assistant chief and a 24-year veteran of the department.
The museum also includes displays of antique dress uniforms, leather fire helmets, badges, kerosene lanterns, pike poles, axes, rubber boots, firefighter bunker gear hundreds of artifacts in total. Much of it is pre-1900 and every piece in the museum was once in service in Nebraska City; nothing was acquired from outside sources, Marshall said.
In the late 1980s, department members decided they wanted to display the collection in a museum. Over the years, they held an assortment of fundraisers, including soup suppers, pie sales, barbecues and calendar sales.
Then, in 2005, they joined the Nebraska City Museum Association. Brian Volkmer, director of the association, helped the firefighters apply for donations from charitable foundations while guiding them through the process of designing the museum and displays.
They obtained some significant donations and have now raised $600,000, Tom Schreiner said. No public tax funds were used.
Other than the metal building frame, the 40 members of the department did all the work. They have put in some 8,000 hours of labor.
The museum will open April 5.
They've come not to wield hoses and ladders, but cordless drills and caulk guns. They've arrived for a work night at the Nebraska City Museum of Firefighting and Education.
Doing most of the work themselves, the firefighters have made a lot of progress in the past 2.5 years. Their collection of historic firefighting equipment -- some of it 152 years old -- is on display. Narrative panels on the walls tell the history of what is considered the oldest Nebraska fire department in continuous existence.
With the grand opening less than three months away, there's still plenty to do, mostly finishing touches and detail work.
"I'm glad it's finally happened," said Corey Swanson, 21, who grew up in the firehouse because his late father, Chuck, was a longtime chief of the department.
Firefighters started talking about building a museum when Swanson was a 1-year-old.
Bob Schreiner, 73, remembers those discussions because he joined the department when he was just 25. He also remembers the frustration he and others felt over never being able to get the project going.
"I never envisioned anything like this," he said. "I envisioned a building with our collection stuffed in it."
The story began well before Nebraska's entry into the Union in 1867.
In 1854, Nebraska City was settled in the territory as a supply depot for those seeking fortune on the frontier. Soon, a modest collection of houses and storefronts emerged on high ground above the banks of the Missouri River.
Nothing threatened the development of a frontier community like fire, which could wipe out entire business districts, as well as the will of townspeople to rebuild.
In 1856, a merchant by the name of A.F. Mollring mustered Nebraska City's first volunteer firefighters. It was actually a bucket brigade, which consisted of leather buckets and a dozen short ladders strategically placed in the downtown, plus the volunteers necessary to man bucket lines.
The museum includes a display of some of those leather buckets.
In subsequent years as the city grew, firefighters formed the Otoe Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, the Nebraska City Fire Company No. 1 and the Great Western Fire Company No. 1, all in different areas of the city to provide fire protection.
The companies, which exist today in name only, were coordinated by a single chief and were eventually merged.
The museum is organized to show how firefighting equipment evolved after the bucket brigade.
Some of the prized pieces include an 1861 hand pumper and an 1868 ladder wagon, both of which were pulled by firefighters through the mud and ruts of unpaved streets.
Tom Schreiner, who, like his brother, Bob, has been on the department for nearly 50 years, said it's hard to imagine the physical hardships his predecessors faced in trying to save lives and property.
For a period in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the department used horse-drawn equipment.
The earliest motorized equipment on display is a 1926 Seagrave pumper, which could spray 750 gallons per minute less than half the amount of a modern engine.
"And it all runs," said Dennis Marshall, first assistant chief and a 24-year veteran of the department.
The museum also includes displays of antique dress uniforms, leather fire helmets, badges, kerosene lanterns, pike poles, axes, rubber boots, firefighter bunker gear hundreds of artifacts in total. Much of it is pre-1900 and every piece in the museum was once in service in Nebraska City; nothing was acquired from outside sources, Marshall said.
In the late 1980s, department members decided they wanted to display the collection in a museum. Over the years, they held an assortment of fundraisers, including soup suppers, pie sales, barbecues and calendar sales.
Then, in 2005, they joined the Nebraska City Museum Association. Brian Volkmer, director of the association, helped the firefighters apply for donations from charitable foundations while guiding them through the process of designing the museum and displays.
They obtained some significant donations and have now raised $600,000, Tom Schreiner said. No public tax funds were used.
Other than the metal building frame, the 40 members of the department did all the work. They have put in some 8,000 hours of labor.
The museum will open April 5.
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