Pittsburgh Navigation and Fire Insurance Company Fire Mark
Pittsburgh Navigation and Fire Insurance Company Fire Mark
Usage conditions apply
- Description (Brief)
- Beginning in the 1750s, some American insurance companies issued metal fire marks to policyholders to signify that their property was insured against fire damage. The fire marks bore the name and/or symbol of the insurer, and some included the customer’s policy number. The company or agent would then affix the mark to the policyholder’s home or business. For owners the mark served as proof of insurance and a deterrent against arson. For insurance companies the mark served as a form of advertising, and alerted volunteer firefighters that the property was insured.
- The Pittsburgh Navigation and Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania issued this cast iron fire mark in 1832. The oval mark has raised text around the rim that reads “PITTSBURGH. NAV. &. FIRE/INSURANCE. CO.” and “INSURED” in the center. The Pittsburgh Navigation and Fire Insurance Company operated from 1832 until 1845 when losses suffered in the Great Fire of Pittsburgh forced it to merge with the Western Insurance Company.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- fire mark
- date made
- 1832
- maker
- unknown
- Physical Description
- cast iron (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 9 in x 12 1/2 in; 22.86 cm x 31.75 cm
- ID Number
- 2005.0233.0506
- accession number
- 2005.0233
- catalog number
- 2005.0233.0506
- Credit Line
- Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
- subject
- Fire Fighting
- Insurance
- See more items in
- Cultural and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
- Work
- Cultures & Communities
- Advertising
- Firefighting Collection
- Fire Marks
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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