Published: August 08, 2008 06:47 am            

Liberty Bell replicas installed locally

Local News

Let freedom ring!

Two replicas of the Liberty Bell are in the process of being installed at Somerset Christian School and the Ward Correll Sports Complex. The bells, manufactured by The Verdin Company, Cincinnati, arrived at the sports complex adjacent to SomerSplash early Thursday morning.

Ward Correll, a Somerset businessman and entrepreneur, said the bells and display locations cost in the neighborhood of $150,000.

The bells will be displayed at the sports complex and school to remind students and athletes of the price paid for this country’s freedoms.

Tradition says the original Liberty Bell rang from the tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776 to summon citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

The Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the Bell in 1751 to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania's original Constitution.

The Liberty Bell and the replicas are symbols of the rights and freedoms of people the world over.

The replicas to be displayed at the two Somerset locations were created by one of the country’s oldest clock and watch companies.

Verdin Company was started in 1842 in Cincinnati, and has been guided by five generations of Verdins. During these years the company collected a trove of historic items associated with the bell and clock business.

The Verdin Company manufactured the old courthouse clock that is displayed on the northeast corner of Fountain Square in downtown Somerset. The company still has records of manufacturing the clock.

“Yes, our records show we built a clock for the courthouse tower in Pulaski County,” said a spokeswoman for The Verdin Company.

She didn’t have the date the clock was made, but the story goes that it was brought here on oxcart from Stanford. It probably got to Stanford by train.

The old Pulaski County courthouse was torn down during the early 1970s when it was more than 100 years old. The clock was saved and installed on the square. It is about 140 years old and still chimes the hours.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.