Elk County Courthouse Bell Tower - Howard, KS - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

County of courthouse: Elk County
Location of courthouse: 127 N. Pine St., Howard
Phone: (620) 374-2490
Architect: George E. McDonald
Contractor: Morse Contracting Co.

Plaque text:

ORIGINAL COURTHOUSE BELL
Purchased - 1919 - Weight 800# This bell never was installed in the courthouse. The 1200 pound Purcell School Bell, which now rings in the clock tower, was favored because of better quality. It was fists installed in February, 1920.

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"The Elk County Courthouse was designed by architect George E. McDonald and constructed by Morse Contracting of Topeka in 1907. The two-story (with raised basement) brick building is a combination of popular late 19th and early 20th-century architectural styles including Richardsonian Romanesque and Italian Renaissance. It occupies the central portion of a full square block that is one street east of the main business district in Howard, Kansas. Pine Street is to the west of the courthouse, Washington Street is to the north, Cedar Street is to the east, and Randolph Street is on the south. There is a 1959 freestanding jail building (non-contributing) located east of the courthouse along Cedar Street.

"The west (front) elevation features a central entrance located at the base of the clock tower. It includes a large round-arch opening with a modern glass vestibule and topped by a short limestone projection. Above the entrance on the upper floor is a pair of one-over-one, double-hung windows set within a single raised brick round-arch opening. Projecting above the roof, the lower half of the tower includes a recently installed electric clock with four faces. Each of the four sides of the upper half of the tower includes a single round-arch opening where a bell or chimes would have been located. However, when the courthouse was erected in 1907, there were not sufficient funds to purchase a clock. The county waited nearly 100 years before installing a clock in 2006." ~ NRHP Nomination Form

Address of Tower: 127 N. Pine St., Howard, KS 67349 Number of bells in tower?: 1 Rate tower: Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Unknown Still Operational: Not Listed Relevant website?: Not listed

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