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The Lee County Ledger, Thursday, August 9, 2001 - Pag<
Historical Happeings
by Lee Stanley
The Old Hands of Time
The Lee County Courthouse Tower Clock
The 1,000-pound tower bell
located on second level of the
Bell Tower is dated 1917
The first authenticated Tower
Clock was built in 1360 for King
Charles V of France. It is now
mounted in the Palais de Justice
in Paris. The
first re
corded ac
count of a
tower clock
in the
United
States was
in a church
in Ipswich.
Massachu
setts. in
1704. Of the
159 coun
ties in Geor
gia, 85 have
tower clocks. Most of the me
chanical tower clocks in Georgia
were manufactured between 1885
and 1910.
When the Lee County Court
house was built in 1917, the E.
Howard Clock Company of Bos
ton installed the tower clock and
bell. The clock mechanism is lo
cated in the upper level of the
clock tower. On the floor below
the clock is a 1,000-pound bell
dated 1917. This section of the
tower has the louvered openings
to let the sound out. Up until
1940, the Courthouse clock was
a “weight and pendulum” driven
system. Every week, a person had
to climb 5 ladders to the upper
story of the courthouse and wind
the clock. In 1940, a small elec
tric motor was added and the
“electrified” system only required
resetting when power was dis
turbed or twice during the year
when daylight savings time re
quired the clock to be changed.
The clock system is a very in
teresting piece of engineering. A
crown gear on top of the clock
works turns four other gears.
Each of these gears is attached to
metal tubes that reach across the
room to the four clock faces, each
5 feet in diameter. Smaller gears
then turn both the minute and
hour hands of each clock face. As
you can see when looking at the
clock, hands showing the time
can be seen from all four direc
tions. north, south, east and west.
Having the four faces makes the
clock tower a centerpiece for the
city. Citizens from a good dis
tance can see the 90 foot tower
and can tell the time from the
through town, some of the
younger students will see the
clock tower for the first time and
try to remember their roman nu-
m e r a 1 s .
Over the
past 84
years, a lot
of eyes
have
looked up
at this old
clock to
check a
moment in
time. Dur
ing these
many
years, the
tower
clock has been there for soldiers
heading north on trains during
World War II or for farmers and
their workers bringing peanuts
and other crops to town for pro
cessing or storage. For many, over
these years, the clock bell has sig
naled the time to start work, eat
lunch, take a break or head home
after a full day.
In the new digital world in
which we live, many may believe
the old courthouse clock serves
no useful purpose, but I would
disagree. In the rush and fast pace
of today, we all need a reminder
of a slower, more peaceful time.
Once in a while, we may need to
hear the ring of the tower bell or
look up at the old clock and while
thinking of the future, remember
the treasures of the past. Over 150
years ago. a poet wrote, clocks
help us keep pace with time as,
“hours, days, and years slide
softly away”.
View of clockworks on stand with gears connecting
the four clock faces
View of clock face from inside the clock tower
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large hands on the clock. At night,
lighting systems within the clock
tower illuminate each face of the
clock.
The large bell is located one
level below the clockworks. Ev
ery hour, a metal hammer at
tached to the clockworks by a
long cable strikes the bell. It is
interesting to note, the bell strikes
on the hour, and for each hour of
the day, the hammer hits the bell
156 times per day, seven days a
week or 56.940 times every year.
So. over the years, time and the
elements have really tested the
clock, bell and hammer. The bell
can be heard from a good dis
tance, but the sound is limited by
traffic noise during the day. Late
at night when things are much
quieter, the sound of the large bell
can be heard very clearly for sev
eral hundred yards away. Before
air-conditioning and closed win
dows, I'm sure many citizens of
Leesburg enjoyed hearing the old
tower bell ring.
With school starting this week,
traffic through town and across
the railroad tracks will be
bumper-to-bumper. Many par
ents, taking their children to
school, will look up at the old
clock tower, checking the time,
as they head out on another busy
day. As school buses travel
FALL SPORTS REGISTRATION
WITH THE LEE COUNTY
PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT
FOOTBALL & CHEERLEADING
REGISTRATION GOING ON NOW
THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 11TH.
COST IS $50.00 FOR FOOTBALL AND $65.00
FOR CHEERLEADING ($40.00 IF YOU HAVE
UNIFORM FROM LAST SEASON AND WANT
TO CHEER FOR THAT SAME TEAM).
REGISTRATION TIMES ARE 4:00 PM TO 6:30
PM MONDAY THRU FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
FROM 9:30 AM-2:30 PM.
PLEASE BRING A COPY OF YOUR CHILDS
BIRTH CERTIFICATE WITH YOU FOR US TO
KEEP ON FILE. YOUR CHILD WILL
ALSO NEED TO BE WITH YOU IN
ORDER TO BE FITTED FOR A UNIFORM.
Cofee
News
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON
FALL REGISTRATION, CALL 759-6047!
View of Clock Tower
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