Currently displayed in the parlor and formal dining room of the Sikes Historic Farmstead is a late 19th century/early 20th century wood burning Bridge Beach Company Alamo Model 118.
The Model 118 was the smallest of the Alamo series. It is constructed of cast iron and blue steel. Wood could be added either by the large front opening or through the top. When correctly installed, the flue would have been fed through the ceiling and out through the roof. Because of the need to keep the roof intact, the Alamo heater is displayed with the flue resting on the adobe wall.
Hudson Erastus Bridge opened his foundry in 1838 in St Louis. Originally named the Empire Stove Works, Bridge was not an inventor, but used the patents and patterns of other designers in his stove and heater manufacturing. In 1857, the name of Empire Stove Works was changed to Bridge, Beach & Company which was later modified to Bridge Beach Company.
By the early 1900’s, the business had expanded into a large manufacturing facility covering several blocks in St. Louis and had been issued many patents on stove and heater technologies. Their catalog offerings included cast iron boilers, stoves, heaters, as well as pots, pans, waffle irons, and other domestic items.
While wood burning heaters such as the Alamo Model 118 were common during the latter part of the 19th century, the original source of heat in Zenas and Eliza’s newly constructed formal parlor and dining room in 1881 was an impressive stone fireplace. The fireplace was to the right of the current kitchen door and was finished in random sized granite stones. The granite was roughly 8 inches deep. Behind the granite was a deep firebrick interior. The opening of the fireplace was an arched opening made of additional granite stones forming an arch. The chimney was unreinforced masonry.
Because of the instability of the chimney and fireplace, the difficult decision to remove it entirely was made during the initial restoration of the Sikes farmhouse in the early 2000’s. Nothing remains of the original granite stone fireplace today.
The Bridge Beach Company Alamo Model 118 heater was obtained for display after the reconstruction of the farmhouse following the Witch Creek fire in 2007.
Be sure to have your friendly and knowledgeable docent point out the striking Alamo Model 118 heater to you during your next visit to the historic Sikes Adobe Farmstead. And try to imagine the warm and homey feeling of the original stone fireplace against the south wall.
Written by: Anita Hissem, Friends of Sikes Adobe Member
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