The Bell at Old Main

This old bell once resided in the bell tower of Old Main. It has been replaced by digital chimes, and had been taken down out of the tower many years ago. The class of 2009 had the bell restored, and now it stands as a sort of monument off the southwest corner of the building in which it once tolled.

Old Main, originally called “Main Building” is The Pennsylvania State University’s first building of major significance. It was completed in 1863 after a six-year period of construction. Hugh McAllister designed the structure to contain classrooms, laboratories, offices, a chapel, and residential space for 400 students. The limestone used to build the structure was quarried from the land directly in front of it, and was carried in part by a mule named Old Coaly, whose bones were subsequently preserved. After being deemed structurally unsound in the 1920s, the building was razed in 1929 and rebuilt in 1930. The new building, occupying the same footprint as the previous structure and incorporating some of its limestone, was christened “Old Main”. The renovations cost $837,000, which was mostly paid for by state appropriations and an emergency building fund campaign. The bell in the tower was a gift from the 1904 graduating class, and westminster chimes were added as a gift of the 1937 class. The original chimes remained in use until the late 1970s when the university replaced them with a mix of mechanical and electronic bells. These bells eventually gave way in 1993 to the digital chimes which ring over the campus today. Between 1940 and 1949, Henry Varnum Poor utilized the fresco style to paint large murals (over 1300 ft) on the second floor of Old Main that depict Penn State’s land grant history. Today, Old Main serves as the administrative center of Penn State, housing the offices of the president and other officials.

The bell was cast in 1871 by William Blake and Co. in Boston, and was just recently restored by the class of 2009. The bell was removed from the Old Main tower and rung for the first time since 1929. The refubished bell is now on display near old main and the bells we hear on campus today are electrical chimes. During the week, Old Main’s chimes play the Westminster Quarters, but on Fridays and Saturdays, part of a Penn State school fight song, “The Nittany Lion”, is played instead. For special events the tune can vary additionally; for example, on February 22, 2005, the university’s 150th anniversary, the clock tower toned “Happy Birthday to You”. (All information from Wikipedia.)

Taken April 2010—Penn State University Main Campus, State College, Pennsylvania.