BEAUMONT, Texas — A 25-year-old, 24-foot tall, Beaumont fire hydrant is currently in the running to be named one of the top 10 roadside attractions in the country and you can help make sure it happens.
The white hydrant, covered in Dalmatian spots, sits in front of the Beaumont Fire Department's main headquarters which is also the home of The Fire Museum of Texas.
If you've ever driven the length of Main St. in downtown Beaumont you've surely seen it at Calder Ave and Main. If you haven't, then you just might need to get your eyes checked!
There's just over nine days left to cast your vote for the giant fireplug in the "USA Today 10 Readers Choice 2024" contest which ends on May 6 at 11 a.m. central time.
They'll announce the winners on Wednesday May 15, 2024
The giant Dalmatian-spotted fireplug was donated to the city by the Walt Disney company in 1999. It served as the site of a celebration to announce to the re-release of the Disney animated film "101 Dalmatians" on home video. That includes videotape, by the way.
On March 15, 1999, 101 Beaumont firefighters holding Dalmatian-spotted umbrellas did a dance routine around it spelling out "101" as water shot out of the top of the hydrant.
The Beaumont fire chief at the time, Anne Huff, even pitched in and painted Dalmatian spots on the normal size fire hydrants that still surround the giant hydrant.
The giant hydrant weighs 4,500 pounds and when connected to a fire hose can spray 1,500 gallons of water per minute out of a sprinkler at its top.
You can see Beaumont's giant fire hydrant spray water, which doesn't happen often, on Friday, April 26, 2024, during the 409Day Block Party from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The hydrant is set to spray at the top of each hour according to the fire museum's Facebook page. It will spray at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., according to the fire museum.
Here's a compilation of news coverage from around the country of the big unveiling in 1999. If you're from Southeast Texas, you just might spot someone you know!
As of 1 p.m. on April 26 the fire plug was ranked at number five in the voting...
- Lucy the Elephant - Margate City, New Jersey
- Shealy's Official Skunk Ape Headquarters - Ochopee, Florida
- World's Largest Ball of Twine - Cawker City, Kansas
- Carhenge - Alliance, Nebraska
- Dalmatian Fire Hydrant - Beaumont, Texas
- Wheat Jesus - Colby, Kansas
- Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum - Logan, Ohio
- Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox - Bemidji, Minnesota
- Wall Drug Store Inc - Wall, South Dakota
- Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum - Gibsland, Louisiana
You can see the current full leaderboard here.
There's a total of 19 attractions being voted on with several in Texas including the Cadillac Ranch, in Amarillo, The Prada Marfa, in Valentine and Houston's Eclectic Menagerie Park.
In March 1999 Beaumont's fire hydrant was the largest in the world, but two years later that title went to a 29.5 foot tall hydrant in Elm Creek, Manitoba, Canada, according to the Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Canadian fireplug was later bested by a 40-footer in Columbia S.C. which is currently the tallest hydrant, according to the Beaumont CVB.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.