About The Oldest Town Clock In America
The bell tower and clock is the hallmark of Bethlehem's historic district
A town clock is a public clock located in a town or city, typically mounted on a prominent building or structure such as a town hall, courthouse, or clock tower. Town clocks serve as timekeeping devices for the local community and often have large faces or dials that are easily visible from a distance.
Central Moravian Church is located on Main Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and is the oldest church in Bethlehem. Inside the belfry of the church is housed the oldest town clock in America.
The U.S. National Park Service defines the clock as the oldest American-made tower clock. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recognizes it as the first clock. The Downtown Bethlehem Association defines it as the oldest continuously operated town clock in America.
The clock was built in 1746 and is currently located in the belfry of the Central Moravian Church's bell tower. The clock bell tower is the hallmark of Bethlehem. This oldest town clock in the U.S. was previously located on the smaller belfry of the Bell House next door. In 1806, the clock was moved to the steeple of the larger church, where four new dials were constructed by John Samuel Krause.
The Bell House, like the Central Moravian Church, is built in Germanic style, its distinctive turret once housed the clock. The clock tower was originally built in 1741 as part of the Gemeinhaus, which was the central building of the Moravian community in Bethlehem.
The brass clock was designed and built by Johann Abraham Hauer, a Moravian clock maker from Germany. On February 15, 1746 the clock was installed in the base of the Bell House belfry where it served for years as the town clock before being moved to the Central Moravian Church belfry next door.
The historical sign currently placed next to the church reads "An early Germanic type of building; erected in 1745. Used first as the Family House. Girls' School, 1749. Bell, still in use, was cast in Bethlehem. Turret had first town clock, 1746. Weathervane is the church seal in metal".
The town clock was moved to the belfry of Central Moravian church by Jedediah Weiss, Moravian clock maker, in 1824. Over the years, the clock tower has undergone several renovations and repairs.
In 1957 the clock was converted from a weight-driven mechanism to an electric one. In 1998 the clock was restored to its original appearance with the installation of four large clock faces that were designed to look like the original 18th-century clock faces.
The clock has two faces, one on the north side and one on the south side of the steeple, and is powered by weights that are wound every week. It has has been meticulously maintained over the years and is still accurate today. It chimes every quarter hour and has a unique feature where it plays a different hymn melody every day at noon.
Today, the clock tower at Bethlehem Central Moravian Church stands as a symbol of the community's rich history and its commitment to preserving its Moravian heritage. It still plays an important role in the life of the church, ringing out the hours and marking the passing of time for the community it serves.
* Note: There are two other town clocks that are often referred to as the oldest in America. But in both cases those claims are inaccurate. The works of the Winnsboro Town Clock in South Carolina were shipped from France and installed the same year in 1837, while the clock building itself was built in 1833. The other is the Old State House Simon Willard Clock in Boston. Although the Old State House building was constructed in 1713, the existing Simon Willard clock was not installed until 1827 and is dated 1831 according to the city of Boston.
This makes the Central Moravian Church Town Clock, built in 1746 in Bethlehem, PA, the oldest operating town clock in America.
