Those who live, work or visit downtown Evansville may have noticed something missing over the past seven months — the Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse bell tower has been quiet since May.
“There was a bit of a loss when it wasn't working,” said Larry Bristow, unofficial Old County Courthouse historian. “You didn't realize that's what you were missing until somebody really pointed it out — ‘hey, the bell's not sounding.’”
Laura Tomes, chief deputy of the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners said they had been receiving calls about the bell tower. “Not only from tenants here, but from citizens all throughout the Evansville area.”
The original 100 pound striker rusted through and fell off.
“There must have been a micro crack in the shaft of the hammer,” Bristow said. “And after 7 million strikes, 7 million and one — and there it went.”
The original striker mechanism had been rebuilt in 1985 by volunteers from the University of Southern Indiana (USI).
The Center for Applied Research at USI did a fair amount of maintenance just before the striker broke — rebuilding the base and rotating the bell to strike in a different spot.
“So got the bell turned, got the shelf replaced, got everything installed, and it got everything functioning again up until weather took its toll on the striker itself,” said Steven Stump, Center director.
But One late afternoon, Bristow, Tomes and Stump's USI engineering team, mounted the steps to the bell tower to make the repair.
His team included students Mason Eickhoff and Evalynn Voyles, who carried their equipment and parts up the flights of stairs, and got to work.
Their job was to install the new striker the county had ordered, from the same company which made the original striker in 1890. But there was a problem, Stump said.
“The neck on it is shorter than the old one, so when we situated everything with the new structure we had created, it actually wasn't reaching the bell because it was too short. So we had to make some changes and adjustments.”
A little bit of industrial glue, several bolts and some tightened linkage and the bell striker is installed. Bristow said it’s technically a “drop hammer.”
“Because the power is under its own weight, it's released to fall back. It sort of cocks into position and then is released to drop back on the bell. It's not driven onto it under power.”
The striker is cocked into position by a drive pole coming from the clock room directory above.
After a few minutes of anticipation, the hammer and bell sounded the metallic mid-hour single stroke. Bristow said the sight and sound made him “unexpectedly emotional.”
“It was good to see it, to hear it and see it striking, and that it worked the first time. No further adjustments. I think we're good to go. I think we were good now for another 130 some odd years. So, really exciting.”
Support independent journalism today. You rely on WNIN to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Give to grow our local reporting today. Donate
Visitors can finally hear the bell sounding on time and see clock faces with their newer LED lighting system.
Overall, the project cost Vanderburgh County about $3,500, between the custom striker and the services of USI.