GILROY
– The Gilroy Historical Society not only has a newly restored
hose cart, but it also has a bit of a mystery on its hands.
GILROY – The Gilroy Historical Society not only has a newly restored hose cart, but it also has a bit of a mystery on its hands.
The Society was proud to announce that after six months of work, Gilroy resident Jerry Hubert had completed his restoration project of an early 1900s hose cart, a 6- by 10-foot cart that was used to carry fire hoses to the scene of Gilroy fires before the time of fire trucks.
However, at the same time the Society asked its members to begin looking to find out exactly where the cart came from.
“There were several volunteer fire companies back then,” Society President Connie Rogers said. “I presume it was one of those.”
But it hasn’t been found yet. Not a single picture uncovered by the Society, including a photo of a hose cart in the Gilroy restaurant Station 55, has been the right one.
“I’ve seen it once,” Hubert said of the Station 55 photo. “I’ve got to go back down there and check it out.”
Holding a handful of old hose cart photos that he has ruled out, Hubert is left in wonder of the actual history of the cart.
“None of these pictures are of this cart, I’m starting to find out,” said Hubert, who is not a Society member but was made an honorary member for his efforts to fix up the hose cart and his job restoring a baggage cart that sits outside of the train station in Gilroy. “Not many people have any idea about it.”
Hubert, who moved to Gilroy in 1987, isn’t necessarily a history buff, but he has started to become interested in the story of the cart after spending so much time with it.
“This is an old story,” he said. “(Longtime Gilroy resident) Sandoe Hanna had it at his place.”
Rogers doesn’t even have much of an idea of where the cart came from.
“I don’t know how we got it,” Rogers said. “(Hanna) couldn’t tell me exactly.”
The cart itself is a sight of history to behold. The wheels of the cart are immense, and two ropes were used to pull the cart and all of the weight of the old fire hoses. All of the brass is shiny again and American Flags have been added to the cart. Hubert even was able to fix a broken spoke on the cart.
“It was kind of a challenge,” said Hubert, who was reluctant to take much credit for his hours of effort. “I basically stripped the paint on it. It was 100 years old and the brass was all black.”
The retired San Jose State University maintenance worker said the the project basically was something interesting to do, but said as he began working, he started finding out that there were many things about the cart that he didn’t know – and not just the origin.
“Like this reel, here,” he said as he pointed out a part of the cart’s front. “I don’t know what that’s for.
The cart currently is being stored at Eric Anninger’s antique car museum up on Roop Road northeast of Gilroy. Anninger has an old fire hose that Hubert would like to clean up and add to the cart to make it look better, but it will take some time.
“Actually, it came out pretty good,” he said.
Hubert charged the Society just $133 for the restoration project, basically covering the cost of materials – not a bad price to maintain a piece of local history.
“I probably didn’t get everything on that,” he said. “I just charged them for materials and paint.”
And as for the mystery of the cart, Hubert and the Gilroy Historical Society will just have to keep on the lookout.
“And maybe we’ll find out,” Rogers said.
