Stream of history: Henderson retires old fire hydrant

Like so many pieces of Southern Nevada history, the lone fire hydrant on Texas Avenue in downtown Henderson had to make way for growth and expansion.

In a brief and at times awkward ceremony, city officials retired Henderson's oldest-known fire hydrant Tuesday morning.

The cast iron hydrant with an octagonal crown had stood on the 200 block of Texas Avenue, near Water Street and Lake Mead Parkway, since 1941. Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House, the New York Yankees were World Series champions, and Henderson's fire department would not be formed for a dozen years.

In the coming weeks, the 67-year-old hydrant, made by Pacific States Manufacturing Co. of Provo, Utah, will be cleaned up and donated to the Clark County Heritage Museum, where it will be put on display.

As far as anyone could recall, the "safety yellow" hydrant was never used to fight a fire or help construction workers keep dust under control or cool neighborhood children during the hot summer months. In its nearly seven decades, the only action it saw was occasionally being on the wrong end of roaming canines' urinary tracts.

Former Henderson Fire Chief Dale Starr, 78, recalled that a putrid, rusty-colored liquid would ooze from the hydrant when firefighters or city maintenance workers performed annual inspections to make sure it was in working order.

"I'm not going to miss it," he said. "I'm happy it's gone. It's been the only hydrant we've had on the street, and I'm glad to see others have been put in."

Five newly crafted, modern fire hydrants already have been placed on Texas Avenue to meet the demands of fire codes as workers build an extension to the Henderson Justice Center and construct a parking lot.

Betty Kramer, 84, who moved to Texas Avenue in 1945, recalled a lifetime shared with the hydrant.

"It's just been sitting there. They never used it to fight a fire," Kramer said between puffs from an oxygen tank.

"I have no nostalgia about it. To me, it was just a fire hydrant."

Meanwhile, Kramer did not see a purpose in the ceremony and seemed indignant about the backhoe parked near her property. "It's been a headache getting in and out of my driveway," she said.

But the retirement ceremony went forward, attended by city workers and Henderson firefighters from Engine Company 83.

The ceremony had moments of levity -- including a debate over the gender of the hydrant -- and formality: Dennis Porter, director of Henderson utility services, extolled the importance of the fire hydrant maintenance program that had kept the hydrant in good working order over the decades.

Then, the firefighters led the group in a round of applause for the inanimate object. A thick metal chain was wrapped around the neck of the hydrant, and the backhoe, which had annoyed Kramer, tugged three times until the hydrant was yanked from the earth.

Water dribbled from the end of the hydrant as it lay on Texas Avenue, and an orange tag reading "out of service" flapped in the breeze of passing cars.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904.