Franklin County, Ohio Siren Discussion

[Fletch]

Which one?? there were two near campus.
One was over by Blankenship hall at at the building they have the excess inventory sales.
The other one was over near 10th street behind an apartment complex I think.

The one on 10th/College Rd. S

[fire_freak_57]

The one near campus isn't there??

If anyone knows of old T-Bolt or other siren locations I'm still interested in putting a map together of the Franklin County CD system prior to the Whelens being installed in the early '80s. I have about 25 locations mostly westside and northside.

I have a map based on what was included in the old emergency operations plan's master list for the old siren system. Many sirens were moved around or replaced. The transition to radio activation and the Whelen system began around 1991 with the installation of WPS-4000-4's and the 3000s that had been ordered in 1989. All 110 sirens from the old system are included, types where I have been able to verify them. The following siren types were included in the old system, according to the EOP as revised in June 1990 edition. The following is quoted from the EOP (stuff in boldface are my own comments):

3. Types:
Electromechanical

a. There are eight (8) different types of sirens within Franklin County. Those being:
Sterling Directional
Model 2
Model 5 (actually 7's)
STL-10
STH-10
Thunderbolt
Thunderbeam
ACA (one Allertor was installed outside Gahanna at a church).

b. These sirens range in horsepower from 2 HP to 10 HP. The most frequently used is a 7.5 HP.
c. Coverage area ranges from 1000 ft. to 4800 ft.

I will make a much longer post/thread with information at some point when I have time. I am very busy and typically do not frequent the board much anymore. Hope this helps. Can't post images/screenshots of the page from the EOP as this forum I remember does not allow me to post files, so I hand typed it as it appears on the copy.

Here is the map as it appears now (it is a work in-progress ID'ing remaining units as old aerial photographs are not always available): https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... sp=sharing

[Fletch]

WOW-Just WOW!!! Incredible. I was hoping something like this would turn up.

I briefly looked at your map. Some info I have:

*Siren #89: B+M horizontal siren (from old pic of Jackson Twp. fire station)
*Neil House Hotel (demolished 1981, now Huntington Center) first T-Bolt in system
*Siren #11 was originally an STL-10 and caught fire in Apr. 1974 tornado/replaced by T-Bolt IIRC
*Orel & W. Broad STL-10 according to a poster
*Binns Blvd. & Sullivant Ave. STL-10 according to a poster
*Shawnee Hills Police Dept.: XT22 (saw it in person)
*STL-10 in Plain City came from Franklin County
*Bexley Pool had a siren (possible T-Bolt) according to family

I think many of the unknowns are probably STL-10's. Many were sold off to Union and Fulton counties.

I'll study your map a bit more. But you've got a way more comprehensive map than I have.

[Tuba]

Wow! Some really cool stuff coming out recently, my compliments to everyone!

Would anyone by any chance know of a fedelcode model 2 siren (or similar) on Shier Rings Rd. west of Avery road owned by Washington Township? I know Fletch that you stated you found out about it in a newspaper (do you still have that newspaper by any chance?), but it maybe had been removed with the installation of Dublin’s current system.

Once again, really cool stuff, especially that Ashbaugh Rd. Thunderbolt!

[fire_freak_57]

Wow! Some really cool stuff coming out recently, my compliments to everyone!

Would anyone by any chance know of a fedelcode model 2 siren (or similar) on Shier Rings Rd. west of Avery road owned by Washington Township? I know Fletch that you stated you found out about it in a newspaper (do you still have that newspaper by any chance?), but it maybe had been removed with the installation of Dublin’s current system.

Once again, really cool stuff, especially that Ashbaugh Rd. Thunderbolt!

That is not one I was able to find on old aerial. If it was a 2, this would make sense as it likely is too small for me to tell what it is especially on the larger ODOT aerial tiles. It is listed on the master list, however. I cannot remember the installation date if I had a rough idea. I do have limited access to some of the Dispatch articles at least from the 80s and 90's to present (nothing before unfortunately) through my Dayton Metro Library subscription, so I saved those as PDFs off Newsbank.

There is a 2800 or 2900 at the bus garage there that's part of Dublin's system now though, if I recall correctly.

[fire_freak_57]

WOW-Just WOW!!! Incredible. I was hoping something like this would turn up.

I briefly looked at your map. Some info I have:

*Siren #89: B+M horizontal siren (from old pic of Jackson Twp. fire station)
*Neil House Hotel (demolished 1981, now Huntington Center) first T-Bolt in system
*Siren #11 was originally an STL-10 and caught fire in Apr. 1974 tornado/replaced by T-Bolt IIRC
*Orel & W. Broad STL-10 according to a poster
*Binns Blvd. & Sullivant Ave. STL-10 according to a poster
*Shawnee Hills Police Dept.: XT22 (saw it in person)
*STL-10 in Plain City came from Franklin County
*Bexley Pool had a siren (possible T-Bolt) according to family

I think many of the unknowns are probably STL-10's. Many were sold off to Union and Fulton counties.

I'll study your map a bit more. But you've got a way more comprehensive map than I have.

You don't happen to have any photographs of the Shawnee Hills siren, or the B&M, do you? If you did it'd be extremely helpful.
I know many of the rural stations around there had Sterlings, perhaps that's what that is?
I will take note of the locations that you stated are via posters and see if I can see anything on the ODOT aerial archive tiles. Edit: Shawnee Hills is in Delaware County, not Franklin, which probably explains why I didn't have it on my list since it's not a Franklin County siren.

I believe the master list I have is circa 1988 or so, but it is undated aside from the relocated units mentioned on it (the latest year a unit was relocated on that list is 1987. There also appears to have been around 3 units that were never listed on the map despite never being moved prior to then. A couple of the other bolts were moved after this list, i.e. the Smoky Row Road unit; it would have probably been a relocation as that unit was never there in 1979 or 1989 aerials, but is by 2004.

As for the units sold, there was a huge auction in 1992 where Franklin County sold off quite a few of their old sirens. As you mentioned, some went to Union County. We know of the one in Plain City and the other STL in Union as well, they supposedly recieved 5 units according to a newspaper article in the Marysville newspaper but I haven't turned up anything to support any of these other units actually being received or going anywhere.

The NW Ohio county you're thinking of is Williams County, I believe. I cannot recall any going to Fulton County, iirc. Williams got a Fedelcode 5, a Model 7T (which I was not aware Franklin County had), 2 STL-10s, and a Thunderbeam, based off of what I read in a news article in the local paper in Williams County.

Several older sirens were acquired by Werden Electric in the '92 auction and were installed in several communities in Hamilton County around 1993 and served there until they were replaced by the new siren system. These consisted of mostly Thunderbolts and a few STL-10s as well.

Also the Thunderbolt on top of the Blind School is still standing, it is a 1952/1953 jailbar unit. I found out it was still standing when I plugged in the location on the master list and did some looking, I believe someone from the local area went out and got photographs of that siren.

[Fletch]

Regrettably, I don't have any photos.

Yes, Shawnee Hills is in Delaware County. Thought I would mention it b/c of it's proximity to Muirfield/Dublin.

I will do some digging and see if I can link the newspaper records where I got a lot of the info back around 2012 and link them here. It may have been Williams County.

I just found the Jackson Twp. picture a few days before you posted. It was on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/SWFCHS/photos/ ... x9lpnBSPcg

To me, it doesn't have that tapered "cap" on the end that Sterling sirens tend to have. But it's hard to tell. I would lean toward a B+M Model 15-AR-5 such as this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLN6fnyKz0E&t=134s

[nvanw27]

Allegedly, the 2 STL-10s in Montplier, Ohio [Williams County] are from the old Franklin County Civil Defense System.

[Josh R]

The one near campus isn't there??

If anyone knows of old T-Bolt or other siren locations I'm still interested in putting a map together of the Franklin County CD system prior to the Whelens being installed in the early '80s. I have about 25 locations mostly westside and northside.

I have a map based on what was included in the old emergency operations plan's master list for the old siren system. Many sirens were moved around or replaced. The transition to radio activation and the Whelen system began around 1991 with the installation of WPS-4000-4's and the 3000s that had been ordered in 1989. All 110 sirens from the old system are included, types where I have been able to verify them. The following siren types were included in the old system, according to the EOP as revised in June 1990 edition. The following is quoted from the EOP (stuff in boldface are my own comments):

3. Types:
Electromechanical

a. There are eight (8) different types of sirens within Franklin County. Those being:
Sterling Directional
Model 2
Model 5 (actually 7's)
STL-10
STH-10
Thunderbolt
Thunderbeam
ACA (one Allertor was installed outside Gahanna at a church).

b. These sirens range in horsepower from 2 HP to 10 HP. The most frequently used is a 7.5 HP.
c. Coverage area ranges from 1000 ft. to 4800 ft.

I will make a much longer post/thread with information at some point when I have time. I am very busy and typically do not frequent the board much anymore. Hope this helps. Can't post images/screenshots of the page from the EOP as this forum I remember does not allow me to post files, so I hand typed it as it appears on the copy.

Here is the map as it appears now (it is a work in-progress ID'ing remaining units as old aerial photographs are not always available): https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... sp=sharing

Wow! That is some very interesting information! Great work! Just one question though... where are those black and white, vintage aerial photos from the map from? I've looked on Historic Aerials and Google Earth and neither of them have imagery that's that clear. Could you tell me where those images are from?

[fire_freak_57]

The one near campus isn't there??

If anyone knows of old T-Bolt or other siren locations I'm still interested in putting a map together of the Franklin County CD system prior to the Whelens being installed in the early '80s. I have about 25 locations mostly westside and northside.

I have a map based on what was included in the old emergency operations plan's master list for the old siren system. Many sirens were moved around or replaced. The transition to radio activation and the Whelen system began around 1991 with the installation of WPS-4000-4's and the 3000s that had been ordered in 1989. All 110 sirens from the old system are included, types where I have been able to verify them. The following siren types were included in the old system, according to the EOP as revised in June 1990 edition. The following is quoted from the EOP (stuff in boldface are my own comments):

3. Types:
Electromechanical

a. There are eight (8) different types of sirens within Franklin County. Those being:
Sterling Directional
Model 2
Model 5 (actually 7's)
STL-10
STH-10
Thunderbolt
Thunderbeam
ACA (one Allertor was installed outside Gahanna at a church).

b. These sirens range in horsepower from 2 HP to 10 HP. The most frequently used is a 7.5 HP.
c. Coverage area ranges from 1000 ft. to 4800 ft.

I will make a much longer post/thread with information at some point when I have time. I am very busy and typically do not frequent the board much anymore. Hope this helps. Can't post images/screenshots of the page from the EOP as this forum I remember does not allow me to post files, so I hand typed it as it appears on the copy.

Here is the map as it appears now (it is a work in-progress ID'ing remaining units as old aerial photographs are not always available): https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... sp=sharing

Wow! That is some very interesting information! Great work! Just one question though... where are those black and white, vintage aerial photos from the map from? I've looked on Historic Aerials and Google Earth and neither of them have imagery that's that clear. Could you tell me where those images are from?

Sure! These images were taken from the Ohio Department of Transportation's aerial imagery archive. You will need to download the KML and open it in Google Earth Pro. Smaller image tiles show more detail, whereas larger tiles are more zoomed out and do not.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of areas in which I can't identify things even with this helpful tool; but it has come in handy mapping some of the legacy systems of Cleveland, Youngstown, Dayton and Columbus with. Other great places to check for historical aerial imagery is your county's GIS map; these can commonly be heard on your county fiscal officer or auditor's website. Sometimes county GIS maps are on the County Engineer's web site (most major counties have them, but not all).

You're most likely to find tiles near major highways, as the primary purpose of this imagery was so ODOT could review aerial images of the area prior to and following road construction and infrastructure projects.

I'd recommend opening one year at a time, otherwise the archive can freeze and crash the application due to the sheer size of it.

Here's the link to the archive: https://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/E ... uests.aspx