The Town Bell
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La Cloche Du Village

, The Town Bell , Following an 1884 fire in the fire hall at the north end of Cross Street, Mayor Swayze commissioned the Jones Troy Bell Foundry to construct a 1,235 lb. bell at a cost of $1,111.50 to act as a civic fire alarm. Delivered on November 19, 1884, the town bell was to be engraved with the names of town officials, but the $3 fee for the work was challenged by council, which likely led to the bell's incomplete inscription: , 1884, , F. Swayze, Mayor , D.A. Johnson, Reeve , H. Griffith, Deputy Reeve , .lems, Clerk and P.M. , , The unfinished name refers to then town clerk and police magistrate E.R. Hellems. , , The bell remained at Cross Street fire hall until 1901 when it was moved to the new town hall at King and Division Streets. The job of ringing the bell at important times of day was given to chief constable J.J. Ford, who so despised the task that he resigned in 1905 after a feud with town council over the responsibility. , , Though council passed a resolution in 1920 on the matter, the police department continued to refuse to ring the bell. Council was forced to drop the issue but was consoled in 1921 when a by-law gave them voting rights over all police department funding. Suspiciously, the bell striker was stolen that same year by an unknown perpetrator and had to be replaced at council's expense. , , The town councillors would soon sympathize with the police department as the thundering bell, which hung above council chambers, was used to begin council meetings. Their plight was magnified by the unpredictable ringing of the bell, it was once heard to ring 26 times in a row! By 1936 the continuing complaints and mounting deterioration of the bell tower put a stop to the customary ringing, and the bell hung silent until 1959 when city hall was demolished. , , Through the efforts of city clerk J.D. Watt the bell was saved from the melting pot and would stay in a municipal storage shed for the next 20 years. It was not until city clerk David Barrett led the charge to restore the historic bell that it found a home on March 12, 1981 at City Hall at 411 East Main Street, where it remained until its move to the new Civic Square at 60 East Main Street in 2005. , , This plaque is donated by Craig Stirtzinger, city clerk, and his family, and by the Club Richelieu Welland to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Welland, July 24, 2008. , ,