Sapulpa Showcase (January 2022)

The Artifact of the Month:

Gamewells were fire alarm call boxes to notify the Fire Department. Inside, there once was an operating phone that connected directly to the fire station. This would help ease the confusion and rush for the fire department; before the call boxes, citizens called the operator, then operator had to then connect to other departments, and it made for a lengthy connection, rather than connecting straight to the station itself. Some call boxes had other devices inside; these call boxes had an electric device that would signal the fire department with lights and sirens, lighting up with the corresponding call box number.
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In Sapulpa, these call boxes were active in the 1920s. Most were centralized in the downtown area, one on nearly every corner or block. The further out of the downtown district, the fewer these devices were placed. The boxes were active for a short time, mid- to late-1930s due to funding from the Great Depression. The call boxes could be seen on the telephone poles up until 1960. Lem Rhodes and Charles Ham removed the last fire box for its position. Coincidentally, the last one was removed just in front of the Sapulpa Fire Museum, on the corner of Lee and Park. This artifact can be seen standing in the Sapulpa Fire Museum, at 124 E Lee, owned and operated by Sapulpa Historical Museum.