Turn of the century buildings used these hooks for fire protection. Should a fire break out in one of the Main Street buildings, the firemen would arrive by horse drawn carriage and run up the stairs with a heavy duty rope and attach it to the hook. The rope would be attached to the horses below and then they would pull away from the building and collapse the roof inward thereby containing the fire to just one building! Simple and affective, this hook is quite an interesting piece of history and glimpse into the past.