New Walnut St Fire Co. No. 4 & Civil War Fire Bell

424 Walnut St. For the first time since 1874, a 1,000 pound civil war fire bell can be viewed by the public at the “new” station for Walnut St. Fire Co. 4. Although this bell rung out countless fire alarms in its history, it was never meant to be a fire bell at all. It was cast in 1858 by the Buckeye Bell Foundry in Cincinnati, Ohio for Mr. Howell Hinds, a plantation owner near Greenville, MS. Somehow the bell was not able to be delivered, and by the time the Civil War arrived, the bell was still at the foundry in Ohio. In 1868, Mr. Hinds was murdered during a dispute near his Plum Ridge Plantation. In 1874, the newly organized Walnut Street Fire Company, composed almost entirely of German immigrants, purchased the bell for $710.00. It is now on display in the “Fours” firehouse and is still rung each month to alert members that a company meeting begins soon.