DIXON, CA (MPG) - After Saturday’s 150-year Anniversary celebration at the Dixon Fire Department, you might want to head down to the museum to see Dixon’s first fire alarm"'a large cast iron bell re-purposed from a ship.

Dixon’s first fire bell has an interesting history. It was cast by an iron foundry in England, in 1868, for the three-masted square rigged steel hull “China Clipper” ACULEO, that shipwrecked four years later off the shores of San Mateo while transporting sheet iron, steel wire, coal, and Christmas gifts to the San Francisco area.

A businessman, T.J.L. Smiley, purchased the wreckage and transported what he had salvaged to Benicia. A group of volunteer firemen from Dixon looking for equipment that could be used or adapted for fighting fires visited Smiley’s Salvage Yard in Benicia, in 1876, and purchased the bell from the ACULEO.

The bell was rung when there was a fire in the area. Hearing the bell, volunteers would immediately stop what they were doing and go directly to the fire station located on “B” street to hook the team of white horses to the pump wagon, gather the canvas hoses and buckets, along with tools to fight the fire to do the best they could to save homes, businesses, and barns.

Dixon’s first fire bell is on display at the Dixon History Museum, located at 125 West A Street, behind Bud’s Pub & Grill in downtown. Come by and see this unique bell and learn more about its history. The museum is open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 am – 2 pm. Admission is FREE. Bring the children and they will enjoy it, too.