Portland Oregon Fire Hydrants - Part 3
| Text and Images © 2002-3 Allen McMillan | Revised December 12, 2003 |
Possible Phoenix Iron Works Hydrant (?)
Another ambiguous hydrant design. Except for "The Phoenix" cast in large
characters on the bonnet, this design has no identifying markings. It is
assumed that this design was manufactured in Portland because it has not been
documented anywhere else. The logo on the bonnet suggests that it was
manufactured by Phoenix Iron Works, though Phoenix does place a clear company
name and location on two other hydrant designs.
These hydrants are old, almost certainly older than 1915 (which is the time of the oldest maintenance records on many of them). They are almost always referred to in Water Bureau records as "Phoenix" type hydrants, which is the same designation normally used for known Phoenix designs from 1902 and 1912. There are no significant installations of Phoenix hydrants after 1912, and no unknown types that could account for these hydrants being installed after 1912. Records of contracts awarded show that Phoenix Iron Works made 200 hydrants of a type called "Fire Dept." in 1905. This may be that design. The independently gated hose nozzles on this design indicate that it was probably manufactured before 1912 in any case.
There are probably 40 or 50 of these hydrants around Portland. They tend to show up in areas where Coreys are common rather than the older frost jacket sections of the water system.
1912-1913: Late Single-Valve Frost Jacket Hydrants
The second conduit from Bull Run was completed in 1911, greatly increasing the city's water supply and sparking a boom in the installation of water mains and fire hydrants. The need for more than a thousand fire hydrants in the next few years seems to have caused a revision in the City's specifications. The requirement for independent hose nozzle valves was dropped, allowing the City to return to smaller and less expensive hydrant designs. The specifications from this period do not require frost jackets, but this design feature did enjoy a revival at this time.
1912 Phoenix Iron Works Hydrant
Despite being modernized to include angled hose nozzles and a pumper nozzle,
the 1912 Phoenix looks remarkably similar to the old Willamettes. This would
be the last of Portland's really decorative hydrants.
The resemblance to earlier hydrants is understandable based on what is known about the formation of Phoenix Iron Works. In 1902, Wolff & Zwicker Iron Works disappears from local business directories and a new company called Phoenix Iron Works appears. Listed among Phoenix' management is one "Fritz Wolff Supt and Mngr", undoubtedly the same Fritz Wolff who had been President of Wolff & Zwicker Iron Works.
Phoenix Iron Works created at least two, possibly as many as four, hydrant designs for the city of Portland. There are no dates on any of them, but Water Bureau records from 1913 comment on the similarity between the Helser & Unden hydrant (below) and hydrants previously purchased from Phoenix Iron Works. Since this design and the 1913 Helser & Unden are nearly identical in all ways save decoration, this should be the 1912 Phoenix.
The Portland Water Board purchased four hundred of these hydrants, and many of them are still in service today. They can be found all over the city, though seldom in large groups.
Possible John Wood Iron Works Hydrant (?)
The most ambiguous of Portland's fire hydrants, this design is completely
unmarked. No manufacturer, no date, no city, no valve size, not even an arrow
to show which way the valve opens. It is similar in design to other Portland
frost jacket hydrants, and uses the same conical bonnet found on the
Willamette / Wolf & Zwicker designs.
The conical bonnet suggests that this hydrant was manufactured around the turn of the century. The presence of a pumper nozzle indicates that it is newer than the Willamette / Wolff & Zwicker designs. It may be from the previous period of frost jacket hydrants, but its similarity to other designs in this section, the large numbers remaining in service, and evidence of missing "Wood" hydrants, all indicate that the design belongs here.
The manufacturer is currently unknown, but circumstantial evidence suggests that these hydrants were purchased from the John Wood Iron Works Company at the end of 1912. Little is known about the company except that they were in business in Portland during the early 20th century.
The John Wood Iron Works Company does show up on bid proposals from 1910 until 1914. In October 1912 the company submitted the lowest bid and was recommended by the Water Board as the hydrant to purchase. Shortly thereafter, installation records show large numbers of "Woods" hydrants being installed. Since the R. D. Wood Company did not submit a bid for hydrants that year, these "Woods" hydrants were probably the recommended John Wood Iron Works hydrants. (This scenario contradicts the Water Board's 1913 hydrant audit, which shows the contract being awarded to Oregon Foundry. The audit's list of contracts awarded appears to be inaccurate, since most related documents show that Oregon Foundry did not submit a bid for this contract.)
These hydrants are still reasonably common. They are scattered all over the city, with higher concentrations in North and Northwest Portland. There is a fairly dense group of them on N Wabash Street. City records show that the water main on N Wabash was installed in 1913 and most of the hydrants are identified as a type called "Wood".
1913 Helser & Unden Machine Works Hydrant
The 1913 Helser & Unden hydrant is essentially a less decorative version of
the 1912 Phoenix Iron Works hydrant (above). Following the pattern of earlier
designs, this hydrant shares a common bonnet with the 1912 Phoenix. These
bonnets are technically interchangeable with the conical type, but larger in
diameter.
Helser & Unden were in business as machinists for years before they started manufacturing fire hydrants. Their first attempt at a hydrant contract from the city (bids opened January 1913) was successful, and Helser & Unden hydrants were installed starting in March or April. Little else is known about the company during this period. By the 1920s the company had been renamed Helser Machine Works.
Portland made just one purchase of 350 hydrants from Helser & Unden in 1913. Thus, all Helser & Unden hydrants were manufactured in 1913. Many of these are still in service today. Like the similar Phoenix design above, these hydrants can be found scattered across the city anywhere frost jackets were installed.
1922-1930s: The "Corey" Standard
Based on Water Board records, there were probably a number of Rensselaer Valve Company List 90 hydrants in Portland prior to 1910. They would have been inherited from other water utilities since the City had not purchased any at that time. Rensselaer List 90s are always referred to as "Corey" hydrants in City records, so that term has been used throughout this city spec page.
The Water Board began purchasing Coreys in 1910, shortly before Conduit Two became operational. During the hydrant boom of 1911-1913, more than 1000 more Coreys were purchased. By the end of 1912 they were the most common hydrants in the city with more than 1600 in service.
The specifications in 1910 called for independently gated hose nozzles but that requirement was soon dropped. Nearly all of Portland's Coreys are the 5-bolt internally gated variety, though some appear to have been intentionally manufactured with the valves missing. (They have no hose nozzle valves, but the valve stems are simply not present instead of being hacksawed off.) These "multiple valve" hydrants with no nozzle valves would have been manufactured between 1911 and 1922, probably to make them as compatible as possible with existing 1910 Coreys.
Many cities have a unique hydrant specification that any company can manufacture for the city. This allows the whole city to have one consistent standard for hydrants without giving any one company a monopoly on hydrant contracts. In 1922 the Water Bureau and Fire Department resolved to stop the proliferation of different hydrant types and create a standard hydrant for the City.
The City already had a standard hydrant of sorts in the Corey, which was well liked by the Fire Department and already the most numerous hydrant in the city. With the assistance of the Corey's manufacturer, Rensselaer Valve Company, an unusual arrangement was reached. The city would use plans provided by Rensselaer to draw up a set of specifications that would be virtually identical to the Corey.
After an okay from patent attorneys, the new standard was put in to effect and local companies began manufacturing their own duplicates of the Corey.
1924-9 Helser Machine (& Marine) Works Gated "Corey"
This is by far the most common of the locally manufactured clones. Helser
Machine Works' 5-bolt independently gated Corey is indistinguishable from the
Rensselaer version at a distance. Because the parts of all these hydrants are
interchangeable, there are a number of hydrants in service with a combination
of Rensselaer, Helser and/or Western parts.
Rensselaer hydrants of the same type may have either large or small openings in the bonnet for the nozzle valve stems. All Helser bonnets have large openings or (after the valves were discontinued again) no openings at all.
During the 1920s, Helser Machine Works briefly changed its name to "Helser Machine & Marine Works" and that name appears on some of their hydrants.
There are still hundreds of these hydrants all over the city.
1927 Western Foundry Gated "Corey"
The Western Foundry independently gated Corey is, naturally, identical to both
the Rensselaer and Helser versions.
Almost nothing is known about Western Foundry itself.
Gated Western Coreys are uncommon but they blend in with the rest of the population, making an accurate estimate of their numbers difficult.
1931 Western Foundry "Corey"
By the 1930s, independent hose nozzles valves were out, but the Corey
specification continued.
The bonnet used on the ungated clones is slightly different in shape than the bonnets on the original Rensselaer hydrants, having steeper sides and a flatter top. This may have been done to insure that the bonnets would be fully interchangeable with the gated hydrants. This design allowed enough clearance for the portion of the nozzle valve that extends into the bonnet.
There are at least 40 or 50 ungated Westerns left in service, including some large patches in the Eastern suburbs.
1933 Helser Machine Works "Corey"
The 1933 Helser Coreys are the last known fire hydrants made in Portland.
Rensselaer Coreys continued to be the mainstay of Water Bureau hydrant
purchases into the 1950s.
The black bonnet on this hydrant indicates that it's on a main with lower than usual pressure or flow rate.
Due to a leaking problem with the valve mechanism, many of the 1933 Helser Coreys have been removed and replaced. Some of those that remain have been refitted with different valve mechanisms from older hydrants. The handful of unmodified examples that remain are in remote parts of the city and/or water system.
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