The Steeple Bell - Concord, MA - Massachusetts Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

In Concord, along Lexington Street, is the church for the First Parish in Concord, Unitarian-Universalist, where there is a bell planted in front of it.

The church is located on the west side of the road, about a block south of Monument Square. The church is a squarish building with an ell to the left side. The sides are white clapboard. The clock tower is toward the front, and the bell tower is in a cupola above it. There is a bell at ground level inside the driveway circle in front of the church, and a road sign nearby.

The bell is about three feet high and is a classic bell shape, sitting on a concrete base that is level with the ground. From the road, the bell looks mostly normally shaped, but there is a large, deep crack, and the edge is eroded. However, as you make your way to the side of the bell facing the church, you see a large part of the bell missing. The bell was cast by G. H. Holbrook of Medway.

There is a sign next to the bell with the following text:

"Steeple Bell

Cast by Holbrook Bell Foundry of Medway, Massachusetts in 1826, this bell was hung the same year in the third meeting house, its sound ushered in many historic occasions.

Henry David Thoreau rang this bell on august 1, 1844 to announce Ralph Waldo Emerson's Antislavery Address at the courthouse, marking the tenth anniversary of the Emancipation of slaves in the British West Indies.

On April 12, 1900, the bell fell and partially melted when an intense fire destroyed the meeting house. Safeguarded by parishioners, it was eventually returned and placed here.'

Commemorated May, 2017 in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862), through the generosity of the Women's Parish Association, First Parish in Concord."

Agency Responsible for Placement: Other (Place below) Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): Women's Parish Association, First Parish in Concord Year Placed: 5/1/2017 County: Middlesex City/Town Name: Concord Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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