The Walsh Bell

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2025

1. The Walsh Bell Marker

Touch for directions.

Slope.

West.

America,

Mountains,

Hemisphere,

World,

Anglosphere.

Click or scan to see
this page online

From the National Register Nomination prepared by Walter Rule, Ouray County Historical Society, 6/12/1974:
Plans for the first floor of the City Hall, originated by Kullerstrand and Reynolds, local businessmen and contractors, were accepted on March 3, 1899, by the Ouray City Council. A proposal dated November 17, 1899, to the Council from Thomas Walsh offered to build the second story at his sole expense, the only requirement being that it be used for public purposes of library,

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2025

2. The Walsh Bell & Marker

Looking south across 6th Avenue from the Ouray City Administration Building.

gymnasium, etc. City Council considered and accepted plans of architect Keith of Milwaukee, Wis. to put the Walsh second story on top of the Victorian stone and brick first story.
Cut, coursed native sandstone with brick from local kiln was used. Main floor openings feature semi-circular arches with radiating brick voussoirs containing recessed fan transom panels. The second story Walsh library and gym features Roman Grecian pillars and an illuminated 4-faced clock. Three front-facing pedimented windows are enclosed within the balcony and bracket the pillar supported pediment. A boxed inset columned parapet is supported by another boxed wood cornice with frieze and brackets. Centered over the large column supported pediment but positioned to the rear is the bell clock tower with a Roman Numeral face. The clock tower is ornamented with columns, cornices, frieze and brackets. Atop the clock tower is a hexagonal open arched bell tower with finial and urn decoration within which hung the striking bell for the clock. A flagpole surmounts the gold roofed cupola-bell tower. Except for minor architectural changes to make proper proportions,

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2025

3. The Walsh Bell (inscription)

Presented to the
City of Ouray
by
T. F. Walsh,
M.C.M.,
G. A. Scott, Mayor.

the second story facade and bell-clock tower is a reduced size reproduction of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA.
This is the only remaining building known to have been commissioned specifically by Tom Walsh of the fabulous Camp Bird Mine fame. It is a unique combination of the Roman, Greek and American Victorian styles. As so-called Victorian architecture was itself a mixture of styles and periods, this structure was as true a Victorian representation for the period as might be found.
The pride of the town received quite a blow with the January 1950 fire and efforts at reconstruction involved the whole community and fundraising drives, etc., because insurance money was insufficient to cover even basic reconstruction costs. The library was reestablished although the original signed volumes Walsh donated could never be replaced.
The building as patched together in 1950 is now an anachronism in the 1890 atmosphere community. People miss the clock striking the hours. While the bell was salvaged it cracked shortly after incorporation into the new clock mechanism and was silenced because of the sour tone — another parallel with Independence

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2025

4. The Walsh Bell (back inscription)

Meneely Bell Company,
Troy, N. Y.
A. D. 1900.

Hall in Philadelphia where the cracked Liberty Bell also resides.

Excerpt:  Constructed in 1900, the city hall was built as a miniature replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Thomas Walsh, founder of the Camp Bird Mine, donated a library which occupied the second floor. The structure burned down in January 1950. It was listed on the Register in 1975. A restoration effort in 1976 as part of the city of Ouray Centennial failed, but another restoration effort led by then-mayor Bill Fries (C.W. McCall) succeeded in restoring the historic facade in 1988.

Excerpt:  Completed around 1901, the two-story building was commissioned by Tom Walsh, who owned and operated the local Camp Bird mine. It featured a combination of Roman, Greek, and American Victorian architectural elements. In 1950, the building suffered major fire damage.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2025

5. Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library

Looking north across 6th Avenue. The Walsh Bell and marker are on the sidewalk in front of the Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library.

Excerpt:  Walsh was born April 2, 1850, most likely on his father's farm, Baptistgrange, in Lisronagh, Tipperary, Ireland. In the early 1870s Walsh heeded the call to “Go West, young man” and settled in Colorado, where he was paid well for his carpentry skills. Walsh was said to be attracted to the opportunities that came with the gold rush, including trading goods and services at inflated prices, as opposed to gold mining itself. Gradually, he became more and more immersed in the gold industry. He was soon trading mining equipment to prospectors in exchange for their mining claims as payment. He also studied mining technology at night.
In 1877 he moved to Leadville, Colorado with a small fortune of between $75,000 (equivalent to $2,268,000 in 2025) and $100,000. Along with his wife, he ran the Grand Central Hotel in Leadville. Eventually Walsh was overcome by gold fever. Unlike other prospectors, however, he took a methodical and careful approach to prospecting, which paid off. In 1896, he came home and uttered the words which his daughter later used as the title of her memoir: "Daughter, I've struck it rich!" His Camp Bird Gold

Paid Advertisement

Mine near Ouray, Colorado was soon turning out $5,000 a day (equivalent to $194,000 in 2025) in ore. The Walsh family became very wealthy. In a short period of time, Walsh made a fortune totaling $3,000,000 (equivalent to $116,100,000 in 2025). Walsh donated a library which occupied the second floor in the Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library in Ouray.