Stutz Fire Engine Company, Rodger J. Birchfield, 2008
A man's fascination of water pumps and gasoline engines spawned the creation of three fire engine comapnies in Indiana. Alfred C. Mecklenburg Sr. started up the South Bend Motor Car Works in 1912 and built fire apparatus until the firm closed in late 1918. Mecklenburg went to Indianapolis where he and Harry C. Stutz founded the Stutz Fire Engine Company in May 1919.
After the Stutz fire engine firm failed in 1929, a former stockholder began a small shop named New Stutz Apparatus to provide parts for Stutz fire engines located in firehouses from Maine to Tokyo. Mecklenburg joined the venture shortly after its inception and months later bought the firm. The company was moved to Hartford City, Indiana where it flourished until 1941 when it joined the World War II effort.
This book is a tribute to Mecklenburg and Stutz. Had it not been for Mecklenburg and the South Bend Motor car Works, there would never have been a Stutz fire engine or New Stutz fire apparatus; and American Magirus Fire Appliance, who sold the Magirus turntable ladder truck, may not have located in Indianapolis.
There have been few books written on the subject. This new book by Rodger J. Birchfield is a pictorial compiled to preserve the history of four fire apparatus firms in the Indiana communities of South bend, Indianapolis, and Hartford City.
8 1/2" x 11 1/2", 248 pages, hundreds of color and B&W photos, hardcover, ISBN: 978-1-932439-70-6, BS8605 / $39.95
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