This was one of two hose carts that Ferndale acquired in 1898. This one is distinctive in photos as it has a bell rack above the hose reel. This is the earliest photo we have of Hose Company 1 with their hose cart. This photo was found in the Humboldt State Library collection, labeled as pallbearers in Ferndale. Whoever labeled the photo didn’t notice it was a hose cart all bunted up for a 4th of July parade.

The photo below is the one that best shows the bell rack that makes this hose cart distinctive from the hose carts in Company 2 & 3. Here it is being pulled for the fireman’s games competition sometime around 1907.