PHOTOS: After 47 years and a lot of trying, a piece of the Taftville Fire Co. #2's history is back in the village’s fire station.
Inside an equipment room at the Providence Street facility, a few feet away from shiny modern ladder and other emergency trucks, sits a 1915 Cadillac touring car that was transformed a century ago by Ponemah Mill workers into a working fire truck.
“Having this back with us means a lot,” Capt. Scott Boenig said. “It’s the result of a lot of hard work and a lot of pride.”
The “truck” for years was displayed at the Manchester-based Connecticut Firemen’s Historical Society but returned to its hometown earlier this month after years of inquiries by Boenig, a 10-year veteran of the department generations of his family volunteered at.
The car was originally donated to the mill’s fire department, Engine Co. #1, 102 years ago by one of the former mill owner’s presidents after fires sprang up in the sprawling mill town at the time.