A rare – and heavy – piece of history on display at La Crosse City Hall

A 111-year-old fire pumper use to fight fires from La Crosse streets

It was putting out fires on La Crosse city streets more than a century ago.

Now, a 111-year-old, horse-drawn, steam-powered pumper wagon is on display at La Crosse’s city hall.

It’s a nearly one-of-a-kind remnant of a time when horses pulled fire wagons on streets of La Crosse. The Nott Pumper named “La Crosse” is one of just 15 such pieces of fire equipment thought to be remaining. 

“For a lot of us, that history and tradition is really important to the fire service,” La Crosse fire division chief Jeff Murphy said. “Keeping that stuff around and having it as a reminder of how things were done before the gasoline engines is important. It’s exciting to have in city hall now.”

Nearly a dozen firemen and other workers helped move it into the lobby Monday – taking the doors glass-sliding down and dismantling some of the top unit. 

The pumper was purchased for $5,000 in 1905, built by the Company of Minneapolis, which made only 100 units. It as a 1,000-gallon-per-minute pump that weighs 8,800 pounds.

It was on display at the Main St. Library until the La Crosse Historical Society moved. It’s been in storage since.

At one point, it was due for restoration, which could still happen. That idea was put on hold due to fundraising constraints.

“That will ultimately be up to the historical society,” Murphy said. “Hopefully they’ll talk with us about it. There’s always some people that would rather see it restored.”

Murphy is among the group of firefighters who like the old wagon just the way it is – a little rough around the edges. It looks more authentic that way, he said.

“It’s been bounced around from storage facility to storage facility for quite some time,” Murphy added. “It hasn’t always been the cleanest or weatherproofed, so that’s why this is important for us to have it some place safe.”