This is an American Darling Valve fire hydrant in Somerville, Massachusetts. These hydrants are found all over the country, and were made under that name as early as 1902 by the Darling Valve company, based in Williamsport PA. This valve is not that old, and was probably made in Beaumont, TX, sometime in the last 30 years or so. I shoot hydrants wherever I go - they're all unique and give towns a certain identity. They can be differentiated by their usage marks, level of decay, and unusual layers of peeling paint. Municipalities and other utilities periodically paint or restore them, rendering their color schemes fleeting and ephemeral. Viewed as a group they can become an unusual prism of the cities and streets they inhabit.