Chicago Engine 77 – some final history (part 5)

• E77 on September 9, 2012. Demo complete, views from both north and south. Notice condition of the house to the south at 1226 S. Komensky. House has been rehabbed and is currently occupied. Almost 90 year old firehouse to the north is gone.
• E77 is one of the last of it’s kind. The last single engine house was built in the early 50’s (E113- the ‘next company over” from 77). There are only a handful of single company firehouses in Chicago anymore, let alone single company houses with the history of actvity E77 saw during it’s heyday. For awhile, it had a reputation as a punishment house, on the outskirts of the city, where department brass “bansihed” firemen it disliked. But with many firehouses like it, Engine 77 consistently turned out experienced, seasoned firefighters that were promoted out of the house to pass on the lessons they learned.
• E77 on 10/24/07

Journal 1 shows the company journal entry when me grandfather retired (mandatory after 35 years apparently).

The other journal entry shows the company member information page. Notice there are only 2 company officers and engineers. This was back in the days of the two-platoon system. The info pages also list the dates of birth, entry into CFD and the date the member was assigned to the company.

In this case, my grandfather John J. McInerney was transferred to E77 as an Engineer on March 16, 1935. He started out as a fireman at E103 when they were on Harrison Street in 1917. In the center of the picture it lists his date of birth as 8/15/1889. Next to the on the right, his “Former Occ” on the top right of the page it lists his former occupation as a Locomotive Fireman. Next to that, it lists his native country as “US”, followed by his badge number. The following page goes on to list his date of entry into the CFD (7/22/17), address and phone number. In his case, he lived at 1509 N. Luna, and his telephone number was Merrimac7-2510. This information about members was kept in company journals for many, many years.