Bell Tower

Forgotten Treasures of Detroit's Old City Hall

The former Detroit City Hall was located at what is now Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Constructed from 1867 to 1871 by N. Osborn & Company of Rochester, New York, final plans for the structure were drawn by architect James Anderson.

Standing a total of five stories with four above ground and one basement floor, the city of Detroit used the low-rise tower mainly as offices for city hall administrative uses.

Clock Tower

The tower clock was the largest in America at the time. The pendulum weighed 125 pounds; each of the four dials was eight feet, three inches in diameter; and every night illumination was provided so citizens could tell the time from across the street.

One of the nation's foremost clockmakers, W. A. Hendrie of Chicago, created the clock especially for Detroit. He regarded it as his masterpiece. Its works stand approximately eight feet tall by nine feet wide with a similarly sized depth.

Unity Bell

Even more massive than the machinery was the bell. The Troy Bell Foundry, Jones & Co., Proprietors, of Troy, New York, made the bell in 1870. It weighed an incredible 7,670 pounds.

Sculptures

The 14-foot-tall stone figures on the first section of the tower represent Justice, Industry, Art and Commerce.

In 1884, Bela Hubbard commissioned the foremost Detroit sculptor of the period, Julius Theodore Melchers, to make four statues of Cadillac, LaSalle, Fr. Marquette and Rev. Fr. Gabriel Richard. A native of Prussia, Melchers came to Detroit in 1885. Hubbard presented the sculptures to the city and they were placed in niches on the east and west fronts of the City Hall.

Crews demolished Detroit's Old City Hall in 1961.

Why Reclaim Old City Hall?

The Old City Hall Clock Tower and Bell Re-Creation Project will display civic pride and respect to the founding fathers of the city of Detroit and preservation of craftsmanship by Old World masters.