The Old Bell Tower

It is pretty hard to miss all of the work that is happening on Telegraph Street. This street widening and beautification project is very large in scope and comes with it some sacrifice on the part of the local businesses and citizens. We are confidant however that your patience and understanding will pay off when it is completed. This project should improve visibility and exposure to our downtown businesses as well as make traveling easier for the general public. Thanks for your patience!

Through all of the dust and traffic cones you may not have noticed however a new addition to our downtown. This new addition is actually the restoring of an "old friend" to the downtown. This old friend is the bell tower on the old school. This new tower is built to the specifications of its predecessor. As part of this project, we will be adding a carillon system to this tower. This bell system will be used to ring out the hours and special occasions throughout our downtown area.

The old bell tower was part of the history of our community. There is some uncertainty as to what happened to this tower but by using old photographs we were able to build a replica that matches closely to the original. This restoration project was discussed a number of years ago by Mayor Terrill Clove and has been supported by the City Council and Washington City Historical Society. The carillon system will be completed in the next few weeks and we look forward to sounding these bells when the Telegraph Street project is completed, sometime in October.

I am confident that this restoration project will only enhance the other improvements that will be done to the downtown area of Telegraph Street. I believe that these enhancements will make our downtown a place that will attract business, pedestrians, and families within our community. We want our downtown to be a gathering place, a town square if you will. The restoration of the old school tower and bell shows that we can remember and maintain our past, while accommodating for today and planning for the future.