largely intact and original vintage american industrial outdoor city of chicago ornamental cast iron fire alarm station and/or call box likely fabricated by gamewell for the department of gas & electricity, chicago, il. the top pediment features a deeply embossed y-symbol or "municipal symbol" instead of the commonly found fist gripping lighting bolts. the y-symbol represents the three branches of the chicago river, which forms an alphabet y topography at the "wolf point", where the main branch of the river divides into the north and south branches. the inverted "y" signifies the chicago river flow being permanently reversed in 1900. the functional hinged door features an embossed frame accentuated with "bullseye" blocks in each of the corners. the old red paint remains largely intact, with general surface wear evident. interior components removed long ago. a fire alarm box is an outdoor device used for notifying a fire department of a fire. early boxes used the telegraph system and were the main method of calling the fire department to a neighborhood in the days before people had telephones. when the box is triggered, a spring-loaded wheel spins and taps out a signal onto the fire alarm telegraph wire, indicating the box number. the receiver at a fire station then can match the number to the neighborhood. the boxes are a form of street furniture still in service in many places, though many towns and cities have removed them due to cost of maintaining the obsolete system. the first practical fire alarm system utilizing the telegraph system was developed by dr. william channing and moses g. farmer in 1852. two years later, they applied for a patent for their "electromagnetic fire alarm telegraph for cities". in 1855, john gamewell of south carolina purchased regional rights to market the fire alarm telegraph, later obtaining the patents and full rights to the system in 1859. john f. kennard bought the patents from the government after they were seized after the civil war, returned them to gamewell, and formed a partnership, kennard and co., in 1867 to manufacture the alarm systems. the gamewell fire alarm telegraph co. was later formed in 1879. gamewell systems were installed in 250 cities by 1886 and 500 cities in 1890. by 1910, gamewell had gained a 95% market share.