Construction of the Owego Hose Team’s Steamer House, located at the former Lloyd’s Barbershop site on North Avenue, and next to Owego Fire Station #2 is well underway. Recently the 1911 Central Fire Station bell was installed atop the building.
The bell was removed from Central Fire Station in April 2021 and was restored by the Verdin Bell Company in Ohio. The Steamer House will be home to the Owego Fire Department’s 1866 Amoskeag Steam Fire Engine (currently under restoration) and 1939 Sanford Hose Truck now under care, custody, and control of the Hose Team.
“The Steamer House portion of our overall Steam Fire Engine project is coming along nicely,” said Hose Team volunteer and past Owego Fire Chief Danny Gavin.
He continued, “A bell that rings again downtown is something we are excited about.”
Pictured is the Steamer House, located on North Avenue in Owego, with the 1911 Central Fire Station Bell installed. Provided photo.
The bell has a b-flat tone that will be heard throughout the village once operational. The Verdin Company sandblasted the bell with a fine polish and ensured the bell was in working order. The company will install an electric ringing system after enough funds are raised.
Manufactured by MeNeely Bell Company of Troy, N.Y., the bell was presented to the Village of Owego by Dr. Sidney Wells Thompson on Dec. 11, 1911, the year Owego Central Fire Station was built. Dr. Thompson, a prominent Owego resident, was well known as the second automobile owner in Tioga County, purchasing his first vehicle in 1901. The World War I Veteran was President of the Village (now called Mayor), and Vice President of the New York Automobile Association for several years.
From colonial times through the 20th century, one of the only means of calling firefighters to action in event of fire was the cry of “fire”, which was taken up block after block until the church sextons could run to their steeples and start ringing church bells. Even where there was a regular fire bell system, as was the case in Owego, churches usually chimed in, so every volunteer firefighter was sure to hear some bell alerting them to respond.
The early Owego fire bells, called the “Bell of Summons”, were in the Tioga County Courthouse. One of these original bells can be found in the Tioga County Courthouse Square.
On April 5, 2021, the 110-year-old fire bell, once located in the Owego Central Fire Station’s clock tower on North Avenue, was removed. The 813-pound bell exited through a clock tower vent and was then lowered roughly 100 feet from the clock tower via crane to Temple Street. (File Photo / Wendy Post)
Nicknamed “Old Joe”, the bell operated from 1867 to 1915 before it cracked. Once removed it was dedicated as a memorial to Joseph S. DeWitt, an eight-year Owego Fire Chief.
The Hose Team is still raising funds to make the bell functional and ring again by selling “Doc ‘T’ Preferred” bell stock as a nod to Dr. Thompson. For a $25 tax-deductible contribution an individual can buy pound(s) of the historic bell with only 813 pounds, the bell’s weight, to be sold. To date, 684 shares have been sold with only 129 remaining.
If you are interested in this unique opportunity to support the project you can buy bell stock online at the link here or by mailing in the order form at the same website, www.owegohoseteams.com/bell/.
You will receive a receipt for your purchase and official stock certificate indicating the number of shares owned. The total cost of the bell portion of the overall Steamer project is $20,000 of non-taxpayer funds.
Yep, that spot was once Lloyd’s and Gary Stilson’s barber shop. One of the busiest shops in Owego dating its start in 1957 with 3 barbers fixing ugly. Gary, Lloyd’s son came in about 1976 and retired in 2916. Lloyd
died of cancer in July of 1991. Gary continued the traditional business of fixing ugly until his retirement on 11/30/2016 due to failing health.