Towns in Ohio With Gamewell Alarm Installations

[Box 2565]

Information Copied From A Represenative List of Gamewell Installations in the United States as of 1941.    
 
If you can answer any of the following questions, please post a reply! Which towns still use their street box system?  How many boxes are in the system and are gongs still used in the fire houses?  
   
If the system has been removed, when was the system discontinued? What became of the fire alarm boxes, registers, and gongs? Are any of these items still owned by the town where they could potentially be sold to collectors?   Have any of the items been kept for display in a museum or station?

Ohio
Akron
Alliance
Barberton
Bellaire
Bellefontaine
Bucyrus
Campbell
Canton
Chillicothe
Cincinnati  See Reply Below
Circleville
Cleveland
Columbus
Conneaut
Coshocton
Covington
Dayton
Defiance
Dover
East Cleveland
East Liverpool
Findlay
Galion
Greenville
Hamilton  See Reply Below
Hillsboro  See Reply Below
Ironton
Kenton
Lakewood
Lancaster
Lima
Lorain
Mansfield
Mariemont
Marietta  See Reply Below
Marion
Martins Ferry
Massillon
McDonald
Middletown
Newark
New Boston
Norwood  See Reply Below
Piqua
Pomeroy
Portsmouth  Gong at Station 2!
Salem
St Bernard  See Reply Below
Salem
Sandusky
Springfield
Steubenville
Struthers
Tiffin
Toledo
Troy  See Reply Below
Van Wert
Warren
Wellsville
Wooster
Wyoming  See Reply Below
Youngstown  See Reply Below
Zanesville

[Box 2565]

O.K., here are a few to get this going.  I would imagine that most of the systems in Ohio are now gone.  Here are a few places where I know the boxes have been removed.

Cincinnati
System removed and boxes sold at auction in 1991.

Hamilton
Boxes are gone.

Hillsboro
No sign of boxes in this town either.

Mariemont
This is a suburb on the east side of Cincinnati.  I was quite surprised to learn that they had ever had a system.

Norwood
Street boxes removed.

St Bernard
Street boxes removed.

Troy
System removed.

O.K. some of you folks up in the Northeast part of the state, let's here about who does and doesn't have their alarm system around!

[Box 2565]

It's been  several years since I was in Portsmouth, but I do recall that at Station 2 they have a very nice Gamewell 12" or 15" gong on display.  I don't believe that they are using street boxes any longer.

[yfdgricker]

Youngstown
- Removed March of 1995

[yfd4]

Removed in the 1990's in Warren, Ohio

[fyrmdc]

In regards to the Gamewell system in Dayton, Ohio.

The majority of the system from Dayton. Ohio has been removed. All of the street boxes minus one (at Main and Monument, in front of Fire Headquarters) have been sold at auction for $5-10 each (long time ago). There is still an active box system on the V.A. grounds in Dayton and at the Dayton International Airport according to semi-current documents.

[yfdgricker]

Lt. Ron Barber of Youngstown has Campbell Box No 33. Anyone know what box number that was for?

[Box 2565]

Mansfield, Ohio operates a citywide street box system.  Most boxes are mounted on utility poles with a few being attached to buildings.  No pedestals are in use.
 
Shown below is a typical street box.  This is Box 141 on Prospect Street east of Gilbert.

[yfdgricker]

Here's another farther shot of a Mansfield Street Box...

[District5]

Here is a box in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood Ohio. Does any one know if they are still in service???

[Anonymous]

I am a firebuff originally from Boston (which has 3000 working boxes and almost every Mass town has an extensive working system!!) and now living in Columbus. I am researching information on the history of the Columbus system, but there is little around. What I do know, just from looking around the city, is that there indeed was a box system. The only physical evidence on Columbus streets are some utility poles with a large red band painted around them, and thinner white bands painted on top and bottom of the red band. They are mostly in the inner city areas, (the "newer" parts of the city all have more modern street and utility poles). I am currently working on a catalogue of box locations..as of now I only know of about 20, just made from my own explorations.  From looking through old newspapers, the best I can tell is that the system was deactivated in the early 1960's due to false alarms. No idea when the actual boxes were taken out, and as much as I have scoped the city, the only boxes are on a few fire stations and I doubt these were anything like the actual street boxes. If anyone has more info about the history of the Columbus system PLEASE e-mail me at espana100@hotmail.com ASAP! I just read in the Dispatch about an hour ago that the Columbus Fire Museum is finally opening! Maybe I'll check that out!!

Pablo DaSilva
Boston Buff/ Fire buff

[Box 2565]

Hi Pablo,

There are a couple of photos showing Columbus Alarm Boxes in the Fire Museum topic for the Central Ohio Fire Museum.

The only alarm installation still in use in your general area that I am aware of is in Mansfield.

If you get any photos or information, please come back and post!  Also, why not sign up as a member here on the board?  

Good luck,

Steve

[yfdgricker]

Here is a shot of Warren's Box 18 which currently resides in my fire collection, yea I wish! It actually resides in the business entrance of Warren Fire Department Station No.1 downtown. There are other photos and items of historical nature on display.

yfd4, can you enlighten us at to the original box location?

 

[yfdgricker]

Correct me if I'm wrong, is this a box repeater?

-I dunno what it is, I just take the pictures

[yfd4]

franklin and s park av...location of original central station diagonally across from the present station