“How soft the music of those village bells, falling at interval upon the ear in cadence sweet; now dying all away, now pealing loud again, and louder still, clear and sonorous, as the gale comes on! With easy force it opens all the cells where memory slept.” – William Cowper

Travel back to the year 1950 with me, we are standing on a cold November morning down on Main Street in Concord. We shuffle our feet and reach deeply into our coat pockets in search of elusive warmth. We are not alone for there are over 2,000 spectators standing with us. In unison, we gaze 100 feet into the November sky as an iron bell is removed from the Board of Trade Building. We speculate with those nearby about the weight of this very heavy iron bell, the wrecking company reported it did weigh 6,400 pounds, but we believe that weight might very well be exaggerated.

It is now 3:25 p.m. on Nov. 25 as the massive bell is lowered to School Street below to await its unknown fate. As the 100-foot drop tethered to the massive crane continues, a demolition crew workman reaches out with his hammer and strikes the bell, the crowd cheers as the sound echoes along Main Street. It will be the last time the bell is struck for a very long time, but it will indeed sound again over four decades later.

This beautiful Board of Trade building was constructed on the corner of North Main and School streets in downtown Concord. The building was dedicated in 1873 and one of the very first tenants was the Concord YMCA.

Nostalgia for our lost history in Concord is our constant companion. We talk of the buildings lost to the years and hope to preserve many for the next generation. Though the Board of Trade Building was actually not lost, it still lives down on Main Street, some on the west side and some on the east side of our present Main Street.

You see, the top of the building was removed many years ago, but the bottom floors were preserved and can be seen each time we look at the current Merrimack County Savings Bank. When demolition of the tower was completed both the clock and bell were not discarded, they were put into storage. The clock was manufactured by E. Howard Company of Boston in 1872 just before it was installed at the top of the Board of Trade Building. The cast iron bell was manufactured in Sheffield, England in 1873 and presented to the City of Concord by George Pillsbury. After many years in storage, the clock and bell were restored by the New Hampshire Historical Society in 1998.

Each afternoon as the sun fades into the west you can view both the clock and the bell in the shadow of the Board of Trade Building. They rest together across Main Street in the shelter at the entrance to Eagle Square. Though they were once together in the tower as our ancestors traversed Main Street, we can still continue to enjoy them as we travel the same street 150 years later.

Our ancestors feared both the clock and bell would be lost to history, forever vanquished and destined for some obscure scrap pile where rich history goes to die, where the clock and bell would remain unknown, obscure and unappreciated. It is this day I reflect upon a story with a happy ending. May our clock keep perfect time and our bell echo loudly during the approaching holiday season and beyond.