Repairs are part of an ongoing effort to preserve the city timepiece.
August 4, 2010 By Kevin Dayhoff
There are three versions of my story on the Westminster clock tower.
There was a short version published in my Sunday history column, “Archives,” that appears in the Baltimore Sunday Sun. It only appeared in the print version of the newspaper.
Then, there is a much longer version of the piece that was submitted, but edited a good bit for length. I will eventually put that on my website… here:
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In the early morning hours of Tuesday morning, Main Street of Westminster was relatively quiet, with the exception of Westminster street department superintendent Larry Bloom, and Jeff Glass, the city public works director standing on the sidewalk across the street from the old firehouse at 66 E. Main Street in Westminster and looking up into the sky.
Was it a bird, a plane – superman? Well no, they were staring at the old clock which sits atop the old fire hall - which served our community from 1896 to 1998.
After the fire company moved to its new location on John Street in 1998 and the building was sold, the city retained ownership of just the clock and the clock tower which sits on top of the three-story building that once housed the Westminster city offices until the late 1930s, in addition to the fire company.
A plaque at the base of the clock tower reads: “Henry Baile; Born January 9, 1809; Died October 26, 1891. The above clock erected to his memory by his wife Margaret Cassell Baile Sept. 1, 1896.”
A newspaper article from January 1896 reports that the clock tower was the source of a great deal of excitement in the community:
“It is pleasant to record the fact that the clock … (built by the) Seth Thomas Clock Company, of Stamford, Conn., for a tower clock which the company lists at $1010, and which will be a contribution to the department...”
Meanwhile, 114 years later, last Tuesday, on the sidewalk below the clock, the assistant city street department superintendent Wayne Reifsnider, and David Booth of Precision Repair, a timepiece restoration company, were busy sorting through brand new clock hands and safety belts.
According to Booth, Tuesday morning’s task was to replace “the cedar hands, which require painting every two years, with powder coated aluminum ones, and stainless steel counterweights.”
It’s neat to be here and be a part of history, said Glass as he and Bloom kept looking up. It’s exciting to see the clock being preserved, said Bloom.
Moments later, a Thomas Bennett and Hunter crane arrived and city workers Shawn Lockard and Alan Miller joined Reifsnider as they set-up the crane and attached a steel cage on the end of a cable.
Keeping the old timepiece working has been challenging for the city workers in the last number of years.
Miller said it was good to get it worked on, as he looked briefly up at the old clock. Lockard added, “I’m glad that we’re finally getting it fixed.”
Booth and Reifsnider subsequently jumped into the steel cage and away they were whisked into the air four stories to replace the clock hands on the old historic clock that has been a fixture in the center of town since it was dedicated at 3:30 in the afternoon on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1896.
Replacing the clock hands on the old timepiece is part of an ongoing effort to save and restore the clock that has been in need of repair for a number of years.
Booth said that it was exciting to see the refurbishing come along…
Booth shared that on November 17, 2008 a group of clock historians from Chapter 11 of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors visited the old clock and did an assessment of the clock’s condition.
“After inspecting the clock, this group found the clock to be in surprisingly good condition,” although, “prior to (that) visit, vandals did extensive damage to the mechanism…
“The clock is a Seth Thomas (number 16.) The nameplate is dated May 16, 1896, and it is clock #897, and marked ‘A. S. Hotchkiss.’”
Just then, as traffic on Main Street began to increase, Ben Rogers walked up the street as he made his way to his office at Edward Jones, at the corner of Main Street and Longwell Avenue.
“It rings the time… It will great to see the time on the face,” said Rogers just – as if on cue – the clock bell chimed.
Booth later e-mailed, “The bell was cast by J. Resister & Sons, Baltimore, MD, and measures 37” in diameter at the mouth… It is inscribed ‘Westminster Fire Engine & Hose #1, Incorporated 1879’... The other side has several names of officials on an 1881 executive committee.”
Nancy Hernandez of the Community Media Center was also there to film the repairs. This is fun. It’s exciting to be a witness… to record this.
Although Booth is donating his time, other expenses incurred in the clock repair are being covered by private donations collected by a fund spearheaded by Westminster councilwoman Suzanne Albert.
Albert, the granddaughter of David E. Walsh, the city's mayor from 1912 to 1916, told Explore Carroll in 2008 that she has fond memories of the clock from the days when she grew up on Main Street in Westminster.
If you would like to contribute, send a donation to the Westminster Clock Tower Fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County, 255 Clifton Boulevard, Westminster, Md. 21158.
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[20100804 SCE Wster clock tower gets new clock hands sceked]
LABELS: DAYHOFF PHOTOS WESTMINSTER, DAYHOFF WRITING ESSAYS, NEWSPAPERS EXPLORE CARROLL, WESTMINSTER CLOCK TOWER, WESTMINSTER EMPLOYEES, WESTMINSTER PW PUBLIC WORKS, YOUTUBE KED
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