In  May of 1925, the first of seven bright red fire alarm boxes was set in the NE corner of the square in front of what is now the Dilly Bean to turn in fire alarms.  It probably looked much like this picture.  Within that summer six more were installed around the central city.

Directions given were to “break the glass in the little door on the front of the box, turn the key to the right, opening the front of the box, grasp lever inside box, put it down once, let go and leave the front of the box open”.  Each of the boxes has a small weight hanging on a chain, so that a person placing an alarm need waste no seconds in breaking the glass.  The alarm will register at the firehouse and the bell on the fire house will strike the number of the box, from which the alarm was sent. The fire whistle will also blow.

The placing of the numbered boxes on and a block or two off the square, involved no overhead wiring since the wires ran down through the hollow light post, under the walk, into the building and from there to a pole in the alley at the rear of the store.

In today’s addresses the boxes were placed at the corner of 

16th Av and 9th st (Telephone Co); 

Corner of 10th st and 17th Av (Dilly Bean);

12th st and 17th Av (Bullquarian);

12th St and 14th Av (Jailhouse Tap);

11th St and 16th Av  (Star Nails)

The boxes were numbered and placed at corner of Jackson and Payne, 

SE corner of Jefferson and Russell, 

NE corner of Emerson and Summit;; SW corner or Emerson and Racine;

NE corner Racine and Jefferson;  NW corner of Jackson and Washington; 

NW corner of Mechanic and Jackson, and inside the telephone office.  At the time those were the names of the streets close to the Court House square.

Comments about these boxes are welcome at PO Box 804 or email Linda Lostetter at lostetter68@gmail.com. The Historical Society is in need of volunteers for organizing newspaper articles. Anyone is welcome to help that has an interest in Green County History. Please email Linda at the address above or call 325-9730.