The Goal: Visit all of the 1950 Liberty Bell replicas.
According to the Liberty Bell Museum:
In 1950, the United States Department of the Treasury assisted by several private companies selected Paccard Foundry in Annecy-le-Vieux, France, to cast 57 full-sized replicas of the Liberty Bell. The bells were shipped as gifts to states and territories of the United States and the District of Columbia to be displayed and rung on patriotic occasions. This was part of a savings bond drive held from May 15 to July 4, 1950, with the slogan “Save for Your Independence.”
There are many more than just the 55 that the US Treasury had commissioned. There are at least three in Florida, two in Tennessee, two in Massachusetts, four in California, and those are only the ones I know about. Thank you for your pilgrimage and homage to them. It concerns me that some of them aren’t able to be rung. Have you made it to them all yet?
Susan, sorry not to get back to you sooner. If you have any info about the location of those additional replicas, please let me know. I’ve seen 26 of the 55 so far and hope to get some more this year. It’s hard to know how many other replicas there are. There is a lovely, shiny new one in South Dakota that I posted photos of on this site. I know some locations have had problems with people coming up and ringing the bells, which as I’m sure you can imagine is incredibly loud. In Allentown I was able to quietly ring the bell by pulling the clapper up to ding the inside edge of the bell and gently letting back down. That was a lot of fun. It does seem that not many (if any) are officially rung on special occasions as intended.
We have an amazing replica of the Liberty Bell made by our Scout Leaders for an American Project we did, it is now on ebay and can be seen
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251610043976?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
This one is in Birmingham United Kingdom
I have a full size replica in my front yard in Lomita, CA. Just got it this weekend.
That’s great. I’d love to see a photo.
Helen, I’ll be in California this week. Any chance I could visit your bell and take some photos?
Tom, we have started a Liberty Bell replica Facebook page, link below. I have borrowed your location listing and updated it, correcting some typos, giving more specifics, and updating locations. For instance, the Ohio and Michigan bells are in different locations than on your list. Ohio is in the Capitol and Michigan is currently unknown. It was packed up from the state museum, and nobody who was working when we there last month knew where it was.
On our Facebook page I give detailed instructions on how to find each bell, along with multiple pictures when possible, including backgrounds or wider shots. I’d appreciate if you’d help publicize it..we’d love other Bell lovers to post there photos as well.
Happy belling!
Tom, Michigan bell is now at Constitution Hall, 525 W Allegan St, Lansing, MI 48933. This is per the Michigan Historical Society where it used to be.
Thanks also for the like of our Facebook page. It would be great if you would add it to your links.
Rick, Thanks. I updated the Michigan location and added a link to the Facebook page. Happy bell hunting!