DALTON, Ga. — In 1901, Dalton firefighters rode horse-drawn trucks to fires. They probably never imagined climbing ladders more than 100 feet tall to battle a blaze, and they’d probably marvel at the high-pressure hoses and other equipment their modern counterparts have.

But they’d share a common bond of professionalism and courage, and they’d probably be honored to know that a piece of their history has recently come home to Fire Station 1 on School Street, which contains the department’s administrative offices.

At the station there now hangs an original ladder from a horse-drawn hook-and-ladder fire truck the department bought in 1901, along with a copy of the contract to purchase the truck from Seagrave Co. of Columbus, Ohio, and a photo of the truck. The department also has the original contract for the truck kept safely in the chief’s office.

The ladder had been at Manly Steel since the early 1940s.

“Back in the early part of World War II there was a big scrap metal drive and it was brought on for that,” said Manly Steel owner J.D. Manly, whose great-grandfather Frank Manly was Dalton fire chief in the late 1800s and early 1900s. “I guess someone noticed that the ladder was still good and they kept it around. I remember using it to change light bulbs and things like that.”

J.D. Manly’s son Cody is a new firefighter with the department and as part of a building course had invited firefighters to come through Manly Steel where they found out about the ladder.

“I knew J.D. and asked him if we could have the ladder and he not only agreed, he made brackets to hang it on the wall,” said Battalion Chief Mike Russell.

Russell looks at the photo of the 1901 fire truck underneath the ladder and then points to the fire truck in the station behind him.

“That (the truck in the photo) was the equivalent of that,” he said. “It cost $650. That cost $1.2 million.”

Fire Chief Todd Pangle said the 1901 truck was a “hook-and-ladder” truck.

“It carried ladders and saws and hooks to pull out ceilings and windows,” he said. “The men who rode that truck had very specific jobs.”