Town Clocks

[HudsonHawk]

Something that's always fascinated me is town clocks. Whether new or old, there's just something about a large public timepiece that I love. A few from my town...





The large clock on the face of City Hall:



And a newer one, but one I drive past every day:

 

[Stearmen]

Manitou Springs Colorado

 

[Stearmen]

Located on Pikes Peak Avenue In Colorado Springs Colorado. First photo is around 1917, the second is 1958. It has since been moved to the old court house, and restored!

 

[Zombie_61]

This is the National Bank of Whittier Building in Whittier, California:

Built in 1923, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982; the building is of national significance because it was the site of Richard M. Nixon's first law office. And here's a better photo of the clock attached to the building:

Sometimes it tells the correct time, sometimes it doesn't. [huh]

 

[HudsonHawk]

... And here's a better photo of the clock attached to the building:

I love those clocks that are attached to the building. It reminds me of every town square in every small town in Texas. I think it's a law that you have one, possibly with a Dr. Pepper or Pearl Beer logo on it.

 

[1mach1]

Great idea for a post, HH!

Georgetown University Washington, DC.



The Car Barn in Washington, DC.



Main Street Station in Richmond, VA

 

[Zombie_61]

I love those clocks that are attached to the building. It reminds me of every town square in every small town in Texas...

The building is located on the southeast corner of one of the more prominent intersections in what is now known as the "uptown" area of Whittier. This was the first area to be developed by settlers in the 1880s, so I suppose it's as close to a town square as we get. The same building can be seen on the far right in this photo from 1924...

...and again in this photo taken during the Queen of the Whittier Founders Day Parade in May of 1947:

As you can see, the clock has been maintained in it's original state as much as possible.

Bank of America occupied the ground floor from 1923 to 1980, after which time it has been a billiards club, a restaurant/nightclub, and a furniture store. A developer acquired the building in October of 2014, and allegedly has plans to restore/preserve the building, "rebrand" it as "The Nixon Plaza", and is in talks with The Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain to occupy the ground floor. The uptown Whittier area was hit hard by the Whittier Narrows earthquake in October of 1987, and lost a number of buildings that were a large part of the history of the city; fortunately, this one survived. 37 years later the city is still trying to recover from that, and the developer who now owns the building is working with the city to be part of the revitilization of the area.

 

[Fading Fast]

My Grandmother and Father owned a local appliance / watch / jewelry store in a small town and Father told me that from the '50s - '60s they had the "concession" to maintain and set the town clock. I don't remember the number exactly, but I think it was $100 a year (not tiny in that day) and he told me that for twenty odd years all they every did was move the hands twice a year for daylight savings time and back. He said it never broke once. When I asked him what he would have done if it had broke (repairing it was part of the deal), he said he'd have figured it out then.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

W.H. Spurgeon Building, Santa Ana, California
Built in 1913

 

[Zombie_61]

Great idea for a post, HH!

Yes, it is! :eusa_clap As you can tell by my somewhat long-winded post above, I enjoy seeing the buildings these clocks are attached to, or are built into, or are surrounded by, as much as seeing the clocks themselves, and reading the history of those clocks and buildings. Here on the west coast our "physical" history (i.e., buildings like these) doesn't date nearly as far back as it does on the east coast and other parts of the country, so it pleases me to see these clocks and buildings that have somehow survived in spite of developers bent on replacing them with "modern" monstrosities through the decades.

 

[Stearmen]

Sadly, the above building, The Antlers Hotel, was torn down in 1965, to make way for an ugly Skyscraper. With all the land available back then, they did not need to build up! Things have gotten better, there is a move to save the historic buildings down town. To late for our movie theaters though, only one still exist down there, out of five.

 

[Zombie_61]

...To late for our movie theaters though, only one still exist down there, out of five.

At one time there were four walk-in movie theaters here in Whittier. Sadly, only one remains today, and it's been converted to an eight-screen multiplex.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Clock tower at Hillsborough High School in Tampa (which counts both my parents as alumni), built in 1928.

 

[Shangas]

Here is my local town hall, complete with clock-tower. It's built right next to the main road, so I walk past it everytime I go shopping.

Here are the two clocks of Flinders Street Station, the main railroad station in town:

You can see the main clock below the dome, and then the clock-tower in the distance. This photograph was taken in 1927, but the station looks exactly the same today.

 

[Fading Fast]

Clock tower at Hillsborough High School in Tampa (which counts both my parents as alumni), built in 1928.

View attachment 23488

That is an architecturally stunning high school - is it still a high school today?

 

[HudsonHawk]

That is an architecturally stunning high school - is it still a high school today?

Oh yes. By the 90's, it had become that "inner-city" school, but that area of town is undergoing a "revitalization", and the school underwent some restoration a few years back. That picture is fairly recent, I believe. The area to the right of the tower is the auditorium, with it stained glass windows:

 

[Fading Fast]

Oh yes. By the 90's, it had become that "inner-city" school, but that area of town is undergoing a "revitalization", and the school underwent some restoration a few years back. That picture is fairly recent, I believe. The area to the right of the tower is the auditorium, with it stained glass windows:

View attachment 23489

Holy Cow - that is incredible. Thank you for posting the additional picture. While I think there are some new buildings that are nicely done today, nothing compares to the great architecture like this high school.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Holy Cow - that is incredible. Thank you for posting the additional picture. While I think there are some new buildings that are nicely done today, nothing compares to the great architecture like this high school.

Yeah, mine was the typical brown brick cube built in the 1950s. We didn't have a clock tower, though we did have a "victory bell". We didn't get to ring it often.

 

[HudsonHawk]

The infamous clock tower at the University of Texas in Austin:

 

[Fading Fast]

Yeah, mine was the typical brown brick cube built in the 1950s. We didn't have a clock tower, though we did have a "victory bell". We didn't get to ring it often.

My grammar school was a 18th Century farm house that was beyond cool - wood burning fireplaces, large wood staircases, mullioned walk-out windows, etc., but my high school was early sixties nothing. My grammar school felt warm and friendly; whereas, high school felt cold and institutional. Without having anywhere near the understanding of architecture then that I do now, I still intuitively felt the difference.