Horse Drawn Fire Engines, New Jersey, 1896

Four horse drawn fire engines roar up a snow-covered Newark, New Jersey, street while spectators watch from the sidelines.

According to Wikipedia, until the mid-19th century most fire engines were maneuvred by men, but the introduction of horse-drawn fire engines considerably improved the response time to incidents. The first self-propelled steam engine was built in New York in 1841. It was the target of sabotage by firefighters and its use was discontinued, and motorized fire engines did not become commonplace until the early 20th century.