Franklin County, Ohio Siren Discussion

[fire_freak_57]

1973 was the first year the CD sirens were used for a tornado warning thanks to the request of Mayor Tom Moody. That year had a record number of tornadoes.

A 1952 article said that the initial system was planned to have "9 10-hp Thunderbolt sirens for a basic pattern" and "forty-four fill-in sirens ranging from 2 1/2 hp to 7 1/2 hp in size."

Found the first one, didn't see the last one yet unless I skimmed over it.
I'll have to check newsbank again.

[fire_freak_57]

1973 was the first year the CD sirens were used for a tornado warning thanks to the request of Mayor Tom Moody. That year had a record number of tornadoes.

A 1952 article said that the initial system was planned to have "9 10-hp Thunderbolt sirens for a basic pattern" and "forty-four fill-in sirens ranging from 2 1/2 hp to 7 1/2 hp in size."

Is this the one you're referring to?
I don't have the one that refers to 44 others.

north american siren.PNG (711.39 KiB) Viewed 8719 times

[fire_freak_57]

*Siren #11 was originally an STL-10 and caught fire in Apr. 1974 tornado/replaced by T-Bolt IIRC

You happen to know if the STL that caught fire was mentioned anywhere in the news at the time?

[Fletch]

Sorry, I'm having trouble accessing the Dispatch/Citizen Journal archive on the library website.

You can see the article about the 44 smaller sirens here, although I wonder if that was just an initial projection that was scrapped:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/375909900 ... t&mt=login

[Fletch]

Madison Twp. had a Sterling in 1956:
https://digital-collections.columbuslib ... 8961/rec/1

[Fletch]

Here is Vets Memorial in 1965 and I do not see a siren but I suspect one was probably here later:
https://digital-collections.columbuslib ... 5701/rec/1

[Fletch]

Siren #12 is likely on the roof of the Ohio Dept. of Health Building. Here is an aerial from 1984 (lower middle of the photo):
https://digital-collections.columbuslib ... 7643/rec/3

[Fletch]

Plain City: They held an auction back in 2011 where they had at least one STL-10 listed. I don't know if that may have been located where the 2001 is now. I lived in P.C. from 2008-16 and they had the 2001 and the STL-10 that's still there.

Marysville had a system of mostly STH-10's installed in 1976 along with one XT22 that was located at Columbus Ave. and Dunham St. First siren I ever saw as a kid. So I don't think any STL's were ever installed in Marysville.

[fire_freak_57]

Plain City: They held an auction back in 2011 where they had at least one STL-10 listed. I don't know if that may have been located where the 2001 is now. I lived in P.C. from 2008-16 and they had the 2001 and the STL-10 that's still there.

Marysville had a system of mostly STH-10's installed in 1976 along with one XT22 that was located at Columbus Ave. and Dunham St. First siren I ever saw as a kid. So I don't think any STL's were ever installed in Marysville.

Cool info!
and yea, that Marysville stuff lines up with what I've heard/seen in the papers.

As for the Fedelcode 7 that ended up in Nettle Lake in Williams County, I dug something up from the Dispatch from way back in December 1941, when we entered World War II... they bought 15 such sirens as a city air raid system. I'm presuming one (or more) were kept in storage following the end of the war or was sent to elsewhere in the county to be re-used. I can't see how they would have otherwise gotten something so old, if Columbus did not have a siren system between 1946 and 1951. It was one of the sirens Williams County got from Franklin in 1992.

Below, a news clipping from December 26, 1941:

dec 26 1941.PNG (769.21 KiB) Viewed 8639 times

[Fletch]

Here's the "Disaster Services" director Jack A. Moore standing in front of what appears to be a siren map from 1976:

https://digital-collections.columbuslib ... 3040/rec/8