I was driving through Middletown a few weeks ago when I came across what appeared to be a tornado siren perched high on a tower above Sixth Street. Finding an outdoor warning siren in a small town isn’t uncommon, but I’d never seen one quite like it. The sight stuck with me, and I spent the next couple of weeks mulling it over. What can I say? My obscure interests often take control of my day-to-day life.
I eventually went back to Middletown with a better zoom lens to document what I saw. On my way, I stopped at a siren I was already familiar with, a 2001 SRN-B which seemed sufficient to serve the Henry County community of 2,200. Produced between 2002 and 2006 as Federal Signal’s fifth-generation version of the venerable 2001-SRN1, the SRN-B featured a new rotator that set it apart from its progenitors. Middletown’s looms over the local American Legion Post.
Variants of the 2001-SRN are as common as dirt around Indiana, so it’s no surprise that one found its way to Middletown. Still, some internet sleuthing revealed that the place is actually home to another siren I’d never have found on my own, an old Federal Signal Model 2 that sits atop its water tower.
Fire departments often used Federal Signal’s Model 2s, 5s, and 7s to call volunteers into action in the first half of the twentieth century, but many of the sirens were eventually deputized into countywide emergency management systems.
Could that be what happened to Middletown’s? I imagine so, but I don’t know for certain. For its part, the siren won’t say: it doesn’t appear to work anymore2. I’m not sure anyone else knows either since the siren doesn’t show up on Henry County’s 2016 Siren Report Datasheet. It almost certainly predates that report.
More research indicated that the mystery siren I first stumbled across is Middletown’s third, a broken-down Sterling 5VX3. The 5VX was the largest in a series of sirens that the Sterling Siren Fire Alarm Company made between the 1930s and the early 1970s4. They featured a cast iron base that supported an unusual vertical motor.
I could see the siren’s telltale open chopper housing from the road, but I was still perplexed. On most 5VX models, a dome-shaped aluminum cap protected the siren from the elements and directed its wail downwards5. Clearly, Middletown’s is missing! That’s what made it tricky to identify the siren in the field. Fortunately, I’ll never make that mistake again.
Later, I learned that many 5VX sirens had their caps removed to increase their effective range6. Unfortunately, I can’t confirm that since I’m unaware of any other examples in Indiana. Spencer Harman’s fantastic Indiana Siren Map doesn’t appear to list any, and I’ve never seen another one out in the wild. From my house, it looks like the closest functioning 5VX is two and a half hours away in White Pigeon, Michigan! I pass through there occasionally, and I’ll try to take a video next time I’m there if it’s being tested.
Aside from its 2001 SRN-B, the Model 2 on the water tower, and the mysterious Sterling, Middletown’s also home to a fourth siren- a Federal Signal 2T22 that stands outside the community’s conservation club on Mechanicsburg Road. Unfortunately, it appears that the siren no longer works after it was struck by lightning several years ago7. If my sources are correct, three of Middletown’s four sirens are in disrepair! That’s about three too many, according to my book.
Fortunately, the SRN-B behind the legion and other SRN-2001 variants in nearby Mechanicsburg, Springport, and Daleville are probably enough to keep residents informed in the event of an emergency. I sure hope they are, since tornadoes have been on my mind over the past few weeks. Not long ago, an EF-0 landspout popped up two miles west of my house and tore the roof off the offices of a local construction firm! The sirens came out for me, but I worried about those who didn’t hear them wail.
I’ve always been intrigued by things that hide in plain sight. Whether they function or not, sirens certainly do! I’m glad my random trip through Middletown captured a siren that led me back as I fell down the rabbit hole. What else could someone discover there? I’m excited to find out.
Sources Cited
1 Biggestboi64 (2021, July 31). Federal Signal 2001 Variant Differences. AirRaidSirens.net. Web. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
2 Middletown, IN 2001-SRNB Siren Test – 5/10/19 (2019, June 3). WarningSirensOfMichiana. YouTube. Web. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
3 Harman, S. (n.d.) Indiana Siren Map. Google Maps. Web. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
4 Sterling Vertical Siren (n.d.) Civil Defense Sirens Fandom. Web. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
5 (See footnote 3).
6 (See footnote 4).
7 (See footnote 2).
