Restored bell returns home to Seymour

Workers installed refurbished bell today.

 

This is how the bell looked last spring.

     
SEYMOUR - Employees from the Department of Public Works today reinstalled the historic bell that sits in front of Town Hall. 

In late May, the bell traveled to the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, the original company that cast the bell. It underwent a seven-step cleaning process that makes the bell shine like new. 

The bell serves an important role in Seymour’s history, calling students to school for nearly 100 years as the plaque in front of it now states. 
The bell was ordered on April 18, 1885 by then Fire Chief F.H. Beecher for the new Seymour High School. The first public high school was built at 100 Bank St., the large red brick building that still stands, and opened its doors to students in 1886.

In 1922, the high school was moved to a new building at 20 Pine St., and in 1961, the high school was relocated to its current location on Botsford Road. 
Center School Annex, an elementary school, was opened around 1900 next door to the high school at 98 Bank St., the current home of the town’s Board of Education.  

In 1969, the Superintendent of Schools recommended that 100 Bank St. and 98 Bank St. be closed within two years. In 1976, the bell was moved to its current location at Town Hall.

The funding for this project was made possible by a Katharine Matthies Foundation grant for $2,440 in part due to the historical significance of the project. The cost covered total restoration as well as transport to and from McShane Bell Foundry.

The bell weighs 500 pounds, with a 26-pound ringer, for a total weight of 526 pounds.  The original bell costs $.17½ cents per pound which calculates to $92.05!!

Old and new bell photos are posted on the Office of the First Selectman of Seymour, Ct. Facebook page at www.facebook.com/seymourct.org.

 
The above information is from a release provided by Christine Conroy, Administrative Assistant to First Selectman Kurt Miller.