Niwot's 1910 Fire Cart is made of galvanized steel with cast-iron yokes clamped around the top and middle of the tank. The two cast iron wheels measure 50-inches in diameter. This cart is a factory floor model, not intended to be used outdoors and designed to be pulled by hand, not by draft animals. The front panel on the tank reads that it is a "Buffalo No.21 Soda and Acid Chemical Fire Engine" made in Buffalo, NY, USA. Instructions to charge the mixture and maintenance are stamped on a 13"x11" brass plaque on the cart.
The Niwot Historical Society Fire Cart reflects the early 1900s settlement and growth in Colorado communities and their independence on protecting their building development from fire.
By 1910, almost a decade after the commercial section of Niwot moved to the east side of the railroad tracks, concerns about fire protection prompted the citizens to acquire a chemical hand cart and build an 8ft x 14ft frame shed to house the fire cart. The fire cart is a symbol of Niwot heritage and development located at the Boulder County land marked Niwot Historical Society Museum in the Niwot Historic District.
Niwot Historical Society
P.O. Box 354
Niwot, CO 80544
United States