The Barrows Clock - North Attleboro, Massachusetts
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N 41° 58.720 W 071° 20.031
19T E 306645 N 4650042
A gift to the building's original owner from his wife in 1907, this four-sided clock tops the Barrows Building tower at Washington and Chestnut Streets in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. The landmark building serves as police headquarters since 2004.
Waymark Code: WM149YF
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/26/2021
Views: 10
A gift to the building's original owner from his wife in 1907, this four-sided clock tops the Barrows Building tower at Washington and Chestnut Streets in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. The landmark building serves as police headquarters since 2004.
Made mainly from red brick, the structure has some plain stone accents. The clock's circular faces are circumscribed by green molding. Each black dial is a single platter with a full set of Roman numerals and minute marks joined by concentric rings. The hands, too, are black, with bulbous ends, a pair of side spikes, and elongated spade tips. Though it is my understanding that the clock can function, it was not running the day of my visit. The time read 10:31 and did not advance for the duration of my photo session.
The clock tower's brass and cast iron mechanism is on display behind a pair of beveled glass doors at the southwest corner of the building. Cast bronze plaques mounted to either side of the arched entryway give a brief synopsis of its history along with acknowledging the major donors to the preservation.
The plaque to the left includes a low relief image in the bottom right corner of the entire tower and some of the southwest corner of the building. The text:
RAYMOND L. BOURQUE
The Barrows Clock and its works, long a part of North Attleborough landscape, are functioning again due to the philanthropic generosity of Raymond L. Bourque, by providing the necessary funds to complete the restoration of the clock movement and the four clock faces and dials in honor of his four children.
The clock movement has been permanently relocated to its present location for all the public to view and enjoy the unique clockworks as it once again drives the hands of time.
Micheal P. Gould - Chief of Police
Paul J. Belham, Sr. - Friends of the NAPD
The right hand plaque includes a low relief image in the bottom right corner of the upper part of the tower and clock. It reads:
THE CLOCK WORKS
WAS PRESENTED TO THE H.F. BARROWS CO. IN 1907,
BY HIS WIFE HENRIETTA BARROWS.
NOW BEING REDEDICATED AND PRESENTED TO THE
RESIDENTS OF NORTH ATTLEBORO IN 2005
AFTER COMPLETE RESTORATION MADE POSSIBLE BY THE
GENEROSITY OF THE NAMES LISTED BELOW
ALONG WITH MANY WHOM CHOSE
NOT TO BE RECOGNIZED.
[The names of 41 individuals, families, businesses, and organizations follow.
See photo gallery.]
A newspaper article in The Sun Chronicle "Timeless Gift", by Amy DeMelia, October 18, 2007, explains a bit more of its history and fund raising for the restoration project.