City Insurance Company Wooden Fire Marker

This wooden fire marker, circa 1846, for City Insurance Company (Cincinnati, OH and operating from 1849-1857) comes from a small collection of fire markers spanning the 19^th century.  The 15 fire markers represent insurance companies from Cincinnati, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and one is even from Liverpool England- one of the only international signs in the Museum’s vast collection.

In the U.S., insurance companies can be traced back to the early 1700s.  It wasn’t until the early 1750s that these agencies began issuing metal, often cast iron or lead, fire markers to their policyholders to show proof of insurance against fire damage.  The markers would be placed on the front of the property and would have the name or symbol of the insurance agency to alert firefighters that the property was insured.  Often insurance companies would have their own fire department so these markers helped determine which fire department would respond in the event of a fire.  Fire markers were used until the early 20^th century, although many buildings still have their original fire markers in place.

City Insurance Company, Cincinnati, OH, operated from 1849-1857

See also 2022.0009.0001-.0009, 2022.0009.0011-.0015

Good: wear along all edges