DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Collection Number
89.1.61
Creator
This collection was assembled by the Alert Hose Company. The donor and date of donation is unknown.
Extent
Number of Containers: One (1) Box
Linear Feet: 0.5 Linear Feet
Repository
Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Archives
705 Front Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Abstract
This collection contains only one box, and is not divided into any series. The collection is composed on a single book from 1882. This book holds the minutes of the Alert Hose Company, the minuets are recorded on 162 pages of handwritten from meetings. The book also contains the By-Laws (page 200-209), the Constitution of the group (page 211-218), and a list of members (five pages).
Location
The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA
Preferred Citation
The Alert Hose Team Minute Book Collection, The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the head of Archives at MAH. Researchers may be responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material not produced by museum personnel.
Process By
Shannon Barry
Date Completed
2015
The Alert Hose Company No. 1 was one of five hose companies and one hook and ladder company that served the City of Santa Cruz in the late 1870s -1890s. The Santa Cruz City Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1877. Through 1888, it had had just fewer than one hundred active members. These men raced to local fires with hose cart in tow. They were renowned for their speed. In regional contests, the Alerts won the prestigious diamond belt for Santa Cruz twice, a record also held by Watsonville. In 1894 a fire destroyed many buildings on Pacific Avenue and Front Street. The City decided that the time had come for creating a paid fire department, and the Santa Cruz City Fire Department was established and the volunteer hose companies disbanded. The minute book describes the Alerts response to fires, noting locations, causes and damages, as well as general business between December 6, 1882 and March 14, 1888, and February 1, 1893.
