Fire Museum MD Lutherville, historic fun events. Sat

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Water Tower 1

Today we’re taking a closer look at one of the Fire Museum’s more unique pieces: an 1898 Hale water tower, once horse-drawn, that was used in the Great Fire of Baltimore in 1904, and for more than 60 years after. One of the changes that resulted from the progression of engineering technologies during the second half of the 19th century was the construction of buildings taller than three or four stories. Prior to the use of cast iron and steel in the framework of buildings, a structure taller than thirty or forty feet was a rare sight, especially in the United States. As load-bearing metal was incorporated into construction practices, new inventions made “skyscrapers” possible. These inventio