Old Fire Bell - Calvin Reed Park - Wellsville, MO - Bells on Waymarking.com

County of bell: Montgomery County
Location of bell: Hudson St. & Madison St., Wellsville
573) 684-2184

"The old fire bell has been discovered again! Members of Studere Club, Wellsville, in checking over Reed Park which they hope to rejuvenate, found the large iron bell in the grass at the park recently. Twenty years ago, while doing some cleaning at the old fire station, local firemen found the bell and the department gave it to the Wellsville Garden Club. In July, 1953, the club members who were keeping the park, had the bell mounted on a wooden post. Some years later it was removed from the post when the clubwomen believed it unsafe on the decaying perch. As to the history of the bell — memories are a bit hazy — but some of the senior residents recall that the bell was not only used for fires — but it also tolled a curfew. Mrs. R. G. Smith, who lived in the country a few miles north of Wellsville, says she can remember hearing the curfew at night. Children, unless they were accompanied by their parents, were to be off the streets by 9 p.m. The fire department in those days had horse-drawn equipment. One record says, "The department went modern when it purchased a chemical tank back in the teens, and the tank was carried on a delivery wagon, pulled by horses."' ~ Mexico Ledger, Mexico Missouri; Thursday, June 21, 1973

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