Dozens of interesting sites await tourists in Beaumont, on the upper Texas coast. But perhaps no sight is more peculiar there than the 24-foot fire hydrant that is painted like a Dalmatian.

The hydrant – which actually works and gushes gallons of water on special occasions – is the third largest fire hydrant in the world. That’s right, the third largest.

World hydrant supremacy held in Beaumont for a couple of years until the mantle of largest went to a fire plug some 5 ½ feet taller which was completed in July 2001 by Elm Creek, Manitoba, volunteer firefighters. At least, that is what our northern neighbors thought at the time.

In reality, artist Blue Sky had finished sculpting in February 2001 a fire hydrant of a whopping 39 feet in Columbia, S.C., known as “Busted Plug Plaza.” That  hydrant happens to lean, like the tower in Pisa.

While the Beaumont fire plug is no longer the biggest, it remains the best to Southeast Texans, said Jack Maddox, Beaumont fire marshal, who was involved in getting the hydrant situated on its location in front of The Fire Museum of Texas, between Walnut and Main streets in downtown Beaumont. Maddox added that some of the firefighters would like to see the hydrant back in its place as the biggest in the world.

“Yeah, there has been some talk about if we made the slab a little higher we could make it taller,” said Maddox. “Definitely, the others were built to be taller than ours.”

A tidy little plaza and brick walkway surrounds the huge, spotted fireplug. Nearby is a monument honoring fallen Texas firefighters as well as those who were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The perimeter of the plaza itself is lined with smaller, standard-sized fire hydrants. Perhaps these are the “puppies.”

The hydrant was built at Disney Land in California and was used as a publicity prop when the Disney Corp. re-released the video of “101 Dalmatians” The oversized hydrant is built of fiberglass and reinforced with 1,000 feet of steel, according to the City of Beaumont.

Maddox said the former curator of the fire museum, Linda Gauido, had read or heard that Disney was seeking a place for the hydrant. But the fire marshal said he had his doubts about the project once talks began with Disney about what they wanted in conjunction with the hydrant’s unveiling.
In fact, Maddox said he laughed when he heard the Disney folks say they wanted 101 firefighters to do a dance scene with black and white umbrellas around the fire gigantic plug. And he “died laughing” when they mentioned having a choreographer involved.

“I said, I don’t think (the firefighters) are going to go for it,” Maddox recalled. But the tenacious museum curator told them that if Beaumont firefighters wouldn’t do the scene she would get those from neighboring cities, so Beaumont firefighters were shown worldwide on television news programs in their “on the lighter side” spots. “The pictures were shown all over the world,” said Maddox, “Everyone in the United Kingdom knows about it.”

Beaumont’s giant hydrant stands among the old and new phases of this city, where the petroleum industry was launched in 1901 with the Spindletop Gusher several miles to the south of downtown.

The Fire Museum of Texas captures a lot of the past with its old fire engines, vintage hoses and nozzles as well as other firefighting memorabilia. Only a block away is the Crockett Street Entertainment District featuring five historic buildings which were renovated as part of an effort to revitalize downtown.  Stretching along Crockett Street are live music venues, dance clubs and restaurants. The pavilion outside plays host to several festivals and concerts throughout the year.

A number of other sites of interest to visitors are also within walking distance from the world’s third largest fire hydrant including the Art Museum of Southeast Texas and the Texas Energy Museum. Not far from downtown is the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, which tells the story of Spindletop, and the Babe Didrikson Zaharias museum, honoring the hometown phenomenon who has been called the “Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century.”

Richard L. Smith is a freelance writer living in Beaumont.

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