Ohio Bicentennial - Steubenville, Ohio, USA - Community Commemoration on Waymarking.com

Ohio gained Statehood March 1803. 2003 was their Bicentennial year . In preparation for the celebration Bicentennial Bells were cast in Ohio for each of the 88 Ohio Counties.

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"Bicentennial Bells - A Signature Event for Every Ohio County

Craftsman burnishing a bell.
A Verdin craftsman burnishes a bicentennial bell after removing it from its mold. The Ohio Bicentennial Commission is casting commemorative Bicentennial bells on site in each of Ohio's 88 counties. The project is the signature event for the whole state and serves as a guarantee that every Ohio county will take part in and benefit from the Bicentennial.

Stephen C. George, executive director of the Bicentennial Commission, said that 200 years ago, as the Northwest Territory opened, there was a great need for bells in Ohio schools, courthouses and churches. "Bells no longer order our lives as in years past, but they continue to inspire," George said. "This project, while re-establishing the tradition of early bell-founders, guarantees a lasting Bicentennial legacy for the generations that follow."

Bicentennial bells also will provide a thematic tribute to the state's manufacturing and industrial roots, just as Bicentennial barns, a hallmark of the celebration, honor Ohio's agrarian heritage. In planning such an ambitious project, the Commission enlisted the world's largest bell company. The Cincinnati-based Verdin Company, in business since 1842, has provided bells and ringing equipment to more than 30,000 churches. Perhaps best known for creating and casting the 33-ton, 12-foot-tall World Peace Bell for the millennium celebration, Verdin commissions include the famed "Big Ben" bell in London and the 1804 San Juan Capistrano mission bells.

Verdin has assembled a "foundry on wheels" that will make the production of each bell a two-day "out-in-the-open" public event, often coinciding with a festival or existing activity. The bells will be handmade in the centuries-old European tradition, when bells were cast close by a structure to minimize the high cost and difficulty of transportation. "This is probably the most exciting aspect of the Bicentennial Bell Project," said company president Jim Verdin, a fifth-generation bell maker. "Casting bells in all 88 counties will allow Ohioans to experience firsthand old-world craftsmanship."

The bells, to be molded in the "American" style of the Liberty Bell, will be personalized with a county name, forging date, the Great Seal of Ohio and the Bicentennial logo. Each county will be responsible for deciding where their casting takes place and where the finished bell is displayed."

Ohio Bicentennial Bell Program

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