A perfect home
In 1976, when it seemed like everyone wanted their own Liberty Bell replica, the appropriately named Liberty Federal Savings and Loan Association in Leesville, Louisiana, got in on the action. At an April 12 ribbon-cutting ceremony for their temporary location on 300 South Third Street, Chairman Thomas A. Self announced plans to build a replica of George Washington’s Mount Vernon on an adjacent property to serve as the bank’s flagship branch.
He also revealed the bank was working with London’s historic Whitechapel bell foundry (referred to in the Leesville Daily Ledger at Whitecastle) to cast a full-size replica of the bank’s logo, the Liberty Bell. Everyone who opened an account before July 4 would be considered a charter member and might have their name engraved on the monument’s pedestal. Presumably, Vernon Parish residents could ring the Liberty Bell to commemorate their newfound savings and/or loans.
On November 13, West Louisiana’s Mount Vernon was christened on the corner of Third and Lula streets. Balloons, refreshments and miniature Liberty Bells were on hand. The full-size version wasn’t. Bank President Charles Bollinger announced the replica had arrived from France and would be mounted and unveiled in the near future. Presumably, Paccard — who earned their Liberty Bell replica reputation on insanely quick turnarounds — could deliver a bell sooner than Whitechapel.
Just before Christmas, the bank announced the replica would be placed in its permanent location and rung for the first time on December 30. With wishbone mountings from Cincinnati, Ohio, and a mobile base from Los Angeles, California, the bell was heralded as the only exact replica of the Liberty Bell in the state of Louisiana. That tidbit was both untrue and an indicator of how much the state’s official Liberty Bell replica (on display for the previous 26 years in Baton Rouge, 161 miles away) had been forgotten. State dignitaries will be present, and refreshments will be served.
Bicentennial fever gave way to the holiday bustle; everyone was busy with stocking and sugarplums and whatnot, so the actual unveiling took place on January 6, 1977. The Chairman’s father, Thomas J. Self, did the honors of giving the bell its first bong. An engraved plaque on the replica’s base listed the bank’s board of directors.
By 1986, the bank was doing so well with the money the good citizens of Vernon Parish had vested in it, it was time to expand and erect another new building. They paved over the Liberty Bell’s permanent location and put up a parking lot.
The bank then re-homed its Liberty Bell by donating it to the embryonic Museum of West Louisiana. Responsibility for relocating the relic fell to the Vernon Parish Police Jury (a uniquely Lousianan governing body similar to a county board of supervisors). On January 30, 1986, Leesville’s Liberty Bell was moved into storage at the parishwide maintenance garage. The upstart museum had its first artifact to eventually go with its new building, an old depot donated by the KCS Railroad. The railroad donated the building but not the land, as railroads are wont to do, instead extending a 25-year lease. The actual allocation of a $252,000 federal grant stalls in the nation’s capital, delaying the museum’s launch.
On October 16, 1988, a crew from the Central Louisiana Electric Company (donating their time) craned up the Liberty Bell and gently placed it in its new permanent location beside the museum. The museum continued to scrape by on the kindness of local companies, residents and volunteers, adding a storage barn, shotgun house and the Alexander Airhart Dogtrot House to create a sort of rural life village. Google will tell you the museum’s hours are 1–5, Tuesday through Saturday. Google reviews will tell you it’s often closed during open house, and you’d best call ahead if you’d like to get inside. Fortunately, the Liberty Bell is outside.
Museum of West Louisiana Liberty Bell
Location:
803 3rd Street
Leesville, LA 71446
Can I ring it? Sure, why not? Clapper is present and seems to be unrestrained.
Hours: 24/7 (outdoors)
