Rensselaer Valve Co.

Rensselaer Valve Mfg. Co. - Troy, NY Rensselaer Valve Mfg Co was located in Troy, New York and manufactured fire hydrants from the 1880's until around 1969. Their earliest hydrant was patented in 1889 and had a slide gate design mainvalve. All subsequent Rensselaer Valve models used a toggle action main valve which is the reason for the off-center operating nut. What is presumed to be the second model the company developed, the List 90, dates back to before 1895 and is commonly referred to as a "Corey" hydrant after the inventor William W. Corey of St. Louis, Missouri. Their next model, the L-90A, was produced from the 1940s to the mid-1950s. The company's final model, the L-90B, was produced from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. Rensselaer fire hydrants can still be found in service throughout the United States. At the time that the company went out of business, it was acquired by Ludlow Valve, another fire hydrant manufacturer in Troy, NY. After the acquisition, hydrants manufactured by the company were cast with " Ludlow - Rensselaer."
The first Rensselaer model, the List 90, has "THE COREY" cast onto the top of the bonnet. The "List 90" model name does not appear on early hydrants. Three styles of wording can be found which are of different vintages; however this is NOT a safe indication of whether a half-buried hydrant can be deemed to be of a 1 pc. or 2 pc. barrel design. All 3 vintages of hydrants may be found both in 1 pc. and 2 pc. barrel design. 1. The earliest List 90s have cast onto the barrel the company name as "RENSSELAER MF'G CO.", then location, and then have patent dates of "MAR. 12 1895" & "DEC. 3, 1895". This wording is off to one side of the barrel; and the name "RENSSELAER" is cast in an arc. 2. On later List 90s the company name was permanently changed to "RENSSELAER VALVE CO." and the patent dates were dropped. The wording is in a similar location off to one side; and both "RENSSELAER" and "VALVE" are cast in an arc. 3. Later yet the wording was moved to the front of the barrel. Additional information was added including valve opening size and model (eg. 4 - 90) above the company name and location. And a year of manufacture was added below this. Similar wording style and location on the barrel continued on with later L-90A and L-90B models. There are also two bonnet style variations; the "rimless" which gives a rounded look to the bonnet/upper barrel and the most common has a rim. The "rimless" bonnet hydrants, which we believe to have been made first and then dropped from production are listed separately before the "rimmed" bonnet hydrants. The "rimless" bonnet style has only been found in the 4 and 5 bolt bonnet hydrants. The many List 90 configurations are grouped below by size on this and the next two pages; followed by multiple valve List 90s.

List 90s (4-bolt bonnet)

This smallest size of the List 90 has a 4-bolt bonnet and has a 4" main valve opening. The barrel I.D. is ~6", and O.D. is ~6¾" measured near the ground line O.D. rib.

The earlier "rimless" bonnet hydrants are shown first. It has been demonstrated that the two styles of bonnets are interchangable even though there are barrel differences as well. The hydrant shown in image #0738 immediately below was likely manufactured as a "rimmed" bonnet hydrant as it is identical otherwise, including a 1956 date, to the hydrant in image #1019 further below.


1018 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: John A. collection Photo: © 2002, J. Anderson	0738 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Barrel: 2 pc., dated 1956 Location: Platteville, WI Photo: © 2000, J. Anderson	1014 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 4½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: Private collection Photo: © J. Kaminski	1485 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 5" (leaded-in) Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2001, J. Kaminski

The "rimmed" bonnet hydrants shown below are the most common version ...


2469 Nozzles: 1x 2½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: Pamela Williams collection Photo courtesy: Pamela Williams	0660 Nozzles: 1x 2½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/o patents Location: Willis L. collection Photo: © 2000, W. Lamm	1714 Nozzles: 1x 5" Barrel: 1 pc. w/ patents Location: private collection Photo: © J. Kaminski	0766 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: Willis L. collection Photo: © 2000, W. Lamm	2389 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/o patents Location: Private collection Photo: © 2006, J. Kaminski


1015 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Barrel: 2 pc. w/patents Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2001, J. Kaminski	2075 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Barrel: 2 pc. w/o patents Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2003, J. Kaminski	1912 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Barrel: 2 pc. w/o patents, dated 1949 Location: Janesville, WI Photo: © 2002, J. Anderson	1395 Nozzles: 2x 2½" + monitor flange Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: Jeff K. collection Photo: © 2001 J. Kaminski


1019 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Barrel: 2 pc., dated 1956 Location: Platteville, WI Photo: © 2001, J. Anderson	0589 Nozzles: 1x 2½", 1x 4" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Note: Marysville spec. Location: Willis L. collection Photo: © 2001, W. Lamm	0861 Nozzles: 3x 2½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: Private collection Photo: © J. Kaminski	0571 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 3½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2001, J. Kaminski


0505 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 4" Barrel: 1 pc. w/o patents Location: Willis L. collection Photo: © 2000, W. Lamm	0119 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 4½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: John A. collection Photo: © 2000, J. Anderson	2261 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 5" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: Jeff K. collection Photo: © 2004, J. Kaminski	0960 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 5" Barrel: 1 pc. w/o patents, dated 1941 Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2002, J. Kaminski



1886 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 4½" Barrel: 1 pc. w/patents Location: New York Photo: © 2003, J. Kaminski

This last of the 4-bolt bonnet List 90 models has a bonnet flange which is "squared-off", eliminating the nut recesses underneath the bonnet bolts, giving this hydrant a mushroom-like appearance.



	2211 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 4½" Size: 4" V.O. Barrel: 2 pc., w/o patents Date: 1970 Location: Wisconsin Photo: © Jim Quist

List 90 - Part 1 (4-bolt) , 2 (5-bolt) , 3 (8-bolt) , 4 (multiple valve) | L-90A & L-90B Back to Hydrant Pictures