Morristown’s' First Motorized Fire Truck

Morristown Gazette - Wednesday, June 21st 1916

Morristown Board Spent Day in the City

    In company with Mr. L. M. Coaney, a representative of American-LaFrance Auto Fire Truck Company of Detroit, members of the Morristown fire company, and the mayor and members of the board of alderman spent today in Johnson City witnessing demonstrations given by the local fire company with the new American-LaFrance auto fire truck.
    The Morristown party arrived here on train No. 4 and were met at the station by members of the fire company and citizens. The party consisted of Mayor W.B. Whittaker, Alderman J.E. Burke and C.D. Barger, H.F. Mims and J.R. Neil, fire commissioners; W.R. Toney, captain of the Morristown fire company, J.F. Mathes and S.J. Felknor, assistant fire captains.
    The Morristown board of Mayor and Aldermen are preparing to purchase fire fighting equipment and have visited a number of cities in order to get a chance of seeing the machines used and methods employed for fighting fires.

The party returned to Morristown this afternoon - Johnson City Staff

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Morristown Gazette - Wednesday, June 21st 1916

Morristown Board Spent Day in the City

Last week the city closed a deal for a new automobile fire truck which is to be one of the most modern makes. It was bought from the American-LaFrance Fire Engine Co., and the price paid was $9,000. The truck has a six cylinder, four cycle motor with a 5 1/2 inch bore and a six inch stroke furnishing 100 horse power, which is one of the most powerful engines made.It is sold as a type 75, triple combination pumper, chemical engine and hose car. The company from which it was bought is to take the old three horse chemical and ladder wagon in on the new one at $1,000, and the balance of the amount is to be made in yearly installments of $1,000 each, the first payment to be made the first of next November and the last will be taken up the first of November, 1920.  The truck is to be delivered in about 60 days and will be one less of a long list of necessities that the city has needed for a good while.

Morristown General Hospital

Morristown Gazette - February 2nd 1916

$18,000 Hospital Now Completed

A modern Building Well-Equipped - Valuable Asset to Town

     The new $18,000 building for the Morristown General Hospital has been completed and now is ready to be occupied. It is located on a desirable plot of ground on West Fourth North Street. The building is veneered brick with granite facings, three stories, and of beautiful architectural design. It is modern in all of its details and no essential has been been overlooked in its construction. Its equipment has been carefully looked ofter and includes the most improved furnishings and facilities for hospital purposes. The building is thoroughly up-to-date inside and out, and is a great credit to its promoters and the city of Morristown. Outside of Knoxville and Chattanooga the Morristown General Hospital will rank as the best, most complete and commodious in East Tennessee.
 

Hamblen County Courthouse

The Construction

   The commissioners of the newly formed county that were appointed to superintend the erection of the courthouse were R. M. Barton, J. C. Tate, J. C. Hodges, John Murphy and Joseph Eckle. The Hamblen County building committee commissioned architect Alexander C. Bruce to draw up and present three plans to the committee. Alexander C. Bruce (1835-1927) was Atlanta’s first member of the American Institute of Architects. Bruce trained in the Nashville, Tennessee office of English architect H. M. Akeroid. He practiced in Knoxville, TN, where he was elected an associate in the A.I.A.
    Bruce drew up plans in the architectural style of Italianate, Second Empire. One plans cost was $10,000, another $15,000, and the last to cost $18,000. The commissioners choose the most expensive plan, but accepted a bid by G.W. Barrett and George W. Folsom, under the name of Lyle & Folsom, for $21,750. The building was completed in 1874. George W. Folsom, Drury Morris, G.W. Barrett, and John Murphy donated funds and the land in which the courthouse still stands. There were additions added in 1955, 1956 and 1999. This building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Please click to enlarge

The Copula

   In the original plans drawn up by architect Alexander C. Bruce of Knoxville, there were clock faces on the four faces of the copula. For unknown reasons the clocks were omitted from the building during construction, probably because of overruns on the actual construction.

   There was another plan that commission proposed in 1874. It ordered that a bell and a clock be added to the copula and proposed that the county would assign $400 dollars to buy a brass bell but only if the citizens paid to have the clock faces installed. Neither were added at that time. The county was already paying for such things as a new courthouse, jail, and a poor-asylum, they may have thought this was something that they could add in the near future. As it turns out, it took many years to install a working clock face. In 1999, some 125 years later architects at Adams Architectural Associates in Knoxville designed a complete new copula to replace the original that was dilapidated and was in need of replacement. Even thought a bell wasn’t included in these plans, I’m sure the clocks would have would have put a smile on the faces of those that envisioned it so many years before.

The original chosen plan is located in the Hamblen County Archives in the basement of the Hamblen County Courthouse in Morristown, TN.