Great Old Bell - San Marcos, TX
Posted by: 
Raven
N 29° 52.978 W 097° 56.456
14R E 602267 N 3306288
This exact replica of the 55-pound "Great Old Bell" is located by the the Hays County courthouse in San Marcos, Texas. It was used to summon city firemen to a blaze, then repurposed to signal the closing of nearby businesses.
Waymark Code: WMX018
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/06/2017
Views: 4
Located on the grounds of the Hays County courthouse square in San Marcos, Texas (USA), this is an exact replica of the original 55-pound "Great Old Bell" which used to hang from a nearby tree limb to summon firefighters to a blaze. When the department moved to a more conventional fire bell in 1936, the "Great Old Bell" was repurposed to signal the 6pm closing time of all nearby businesses.
The "Great Old Bell" -- sometimes also locally referred to as the "Old Triangle" -- was a prominent feature for San Marcos residents: its clanging signified the end of the business day and could be heard throughout downtown, evoking the times when similar triangle bells were used at farms and ranches to summon folks for supper throughout the state.
After several decades of [over-]use, a city worker erroneously decided to discard it in the late 1950's, but it was fortuitously recovered are now resides at the San Marcos Central Fire Station located a block North of here, at 114 E Hutchison Street.
This replica was placed by the San Marcos Historic Preservation Commission in 1991 at the old location (the original triangle is being preserved inside the fire station for postperity). Since 2013, the local San Marcos Main Street Association society has re-established the tradition of ringing (or clanging, in this case) the triangle bell at 5pm, however still using 6 (instead of 5) strikes to keep with the old custom.
More details on the "Great Old Bell" can be found at the
Bullock Texas State History Museum website.
A marker next to the replica reads:
"In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, San Marcos firemen were summoned to a blaze by the clanging sound of a huge triangle which hung from a tree limb at the right of this entrance to the Hays County courthouse.
The great (55 pound) triangle was made a local blacksmith from a thick, square, wrought iron bar. After the firemen secured a more conventional bell, David M. Dailey remembers that this "bell" was used to signal the 6:00 P.M. closing of stores on the square. As a boy he observed a man emerge from Mutual Mercantile Store on the corner of Hopkins and Guadalupe Streets, watch in his hand, and stride across the street to strike the "Great Old Bell" six times. Mr. Dailey's family rescued the "Old Bell" from the scrap heap and preserved it for postperity."