Why don't you hang around for a few
minutes, and see if there's anything that interests you on these pages?Time's awastin'--
join the National
Association of Watch
and Clock Collectors.___________________
___________________
Welcome to the Web pages of the Clockwork Historian. My primary interest is in research and writing on the early clockmakers of New England, as well as other subjects horological that happen to be of interest. Of special interest are the early makers of tower clocks, and their ingenious ventures into practicing the clockmaker's art, and their mastery of the clockmaker's artistry.
The background of this page illustrates the magnificent 1822 Stephen Hasham tower clock installed in the tower of the Congregational Church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The clock has survived, and is now in the Berkshire Museum, just a block south of the church. It was my privilege to help reassemble the clock--it was literally in hundreds of pieces--before it was placed in the Museum.
Early American Tower Clocks Fred Shelley's monumental work on American Tower Clocks before 1870 has established a benchmark for all future writers on the subject of tower clocks. It's easily the American equivalent of C.F.C. Beeson's English Church Clocks 1280 - 1850. I'd proposed some time ago to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors that a Tower Clock Millennium Project documenting all tower clock installations in the United States be implemented, to be completed before the advent of the year 2000.
But, it didn't happen.Maybe it'll happen by 3000.
In an effort to put as much information about tower clocks before the public, I've generated a few Web pages covering early makers (based on Mr. Shelley's book), and known installations by all the known tower and street clock makers in this country. Go to:
Early American Tower Clocks...and their makers___________________ "The sound of the clock striking, especially when heard in the quiet of the night was a delightful one, and comforting to a small boy who was awake." Keith Richards, The History of Springfield, Vermont, 1885-1961
___________________ This is Page One of three main pages by the late Donn Haven Lathrop.
Go to Page Two for further links to, and delights of, Clock History.
Or: Go to Page Three for Biographies and a couple of technical articles.
Or: Go to the memorial page for a bibliography and other clock-related material.Compare Donn's original version of this page if it still exists.
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