American Street Clock Makers

	[Donn's original heading for this page was probably a fancy graphic that did not survive his move from AOL.]
	Ansonia Balzer Barborka Brown Hotchkiss Howard Jessop Mayer Stevens Seth Thomas
	Ansonia Street Clocks
	We know of no installation locations for either tower or street clocks.  However, a street clock is illustrated in a post-1879 catalog.
	Balzer Family Clock Works
	City	State	Clock exists?	Owner	Date
	Topsham,	ME	Yes	Border Trust Business Center	2008
	Joseph Barborka Street Clocks
	City	State	Clock exists?	Owner	Date
	New York City,	NY	No	McAlpin Hotel	1899
	Brown Street Clock Company
	City	State	Clock exists?	Comments	Date
	Alhambra,	CA	Yes	(restored by NAWCC Chapter 116)
	Covina,	CA	Unknown	(now electrified?)
	Monrovia,	CA	Yes
	Denver,	CO	Yes
	Loveland,	CO	Yes	Some question as to maker
	Pueblo,	CO	Unknown
	Pittsburg,	KS	Unknown
	Murphysboro,	IL	Yes	Electrified: installed approx. 1935
	Owosso,	MI	Yes	(moved from Traverse City)
	Yazoo City,	MS	Yes	Condition unknown; Anderson's Jewelry
	North Platte,	NE	Unknown
	East Derry,	NH	Yes	Moved from Charlotte, NC
	Winston-Salem,	NC	Yes	Since moved to Salisbury, NC
	Barnesville,	OH	Unknown
	Chillicothe,	OH	Yes
	Cleveland,	OH	Unknown
	Medina,	OH	Unknown
	Montpelier,	OH	Unknown
	Newark,	OH	Unknown		(purchased 1915)
	Oxford,	OH	Yes
	Selina,	OH	Unknown
	Salem,	OR	Yes
	Clairton,	PA	Unknown		ca. 1919
	Donora,	PA	Unknown
	Finleyville,	PA	Yes
	Ford City,	PA	Unknown
	Hollidaysburg,	PA	Unknown
Monessen,	PA	Yes
Nanticoke,	PA	Unknown
Sunbury,	PA	Unknown
Whitehall,	PA	Unknown	Moved from Pen Argyl, PA
Center,	TX	Yes
Longview,	TX	Unknown
Salt Lake City,	UT	Unknown	A local contact suggests that the clock no longer exists.
Brattleboro,	VT	Yes		(installed 1908)
Centralia,	WA	Yes	Electric rewind
Olympia,	WA	Yes	Electrified
Snohomish,	WA	Yes	Electrified
Elkins,	WV	Yes	Electrified
Keyser,	WV	Unknown	1 of 2 clocks (see Piedmont, WV)
Piedmont,	WV	Unknown	Moved to Keyser, WV
Sistersville,	WV	Unknown
Weston,	WV	Yes	(now in South Carolina)
Cedarburg,	WI	Yes
Milwaukee,	WI	Unknown

	Andrew Stephen Hotchkiss Street Clocks
	City	State	Clock exists?	Owner	Date
	Chicago,	IL	Unknown	American Clock Co.	Pre-1877
	Indianapolis,	IN	Unknown	J. H. Colclazer	Pre-1877
	Springfield,	MA	Unknown	Hallett & Bucklands	Pre-1877
	Baltimore,	MD	Unknown	B. & O. R. R. Depot	Pre-1877
	St. Louis,	MO	Unknown	L. Bauman & Co.	Pre-1877
	New York,	NY	Unknown	T. Kirkpatrick	Pre-1877
	New York,	NY	Unknown	C. H. Phelps	Pre-1877
	New York,	NY	Unknown	American Clock Co.	Pre-1877
	Memphis,	TN	Unknown	F. D. Barnum	Pre-1877
	Salt Lake City,	UT	Yes	Utah State Bank	1872**
	**This clock has a case made by Robert Wood, an iron founder at work in Philadelphia, PA, from 1838 to 1866, who cast ornamental objects of many different types.  No other clock cases are known with Wood's signature cast into the base. The truncated base, too small to hold a normal street clock movement, appears to be a distinguishing characteristic of Hotchkiss street clocks.  The clock movement would usually be housed in the basement of the establishment owning the clock, and the dial(s) driven via a leading-off rod under the sidewalk.  The clock illustrating this page clearly shows the truncated base.
	These data are taken from a "CATALOGUE of A. S. HOTCHKISS' TOWER CLOCKS, manufactured by SETH THOMAS CLOCK CO.," dated May 1, 1877, published by the American Clock Company of New York City.

	Edward Howard Street Clocks
	There are so many Howard tower and street clock installations--worldwide--in various places that their installation locations are treated elsewhere.  Go to the The Howard Records, and use your browser's "Find" function to search for post clock (search criterion is "PC") installations.

	Joseph E. Jessop Street Clock
	City	State	Clock exists?	Comments	Date
	San Diego,	CA	Yes	One of a kind.	1907

	Joseph Mayer Street Clocks
	City	State	Clock exists?	Comments/Owner	Date
	San Francisco,	CA	Yes	Albert S. Samuels	1910
	Beaverton,	OR	Yes	Charles Schubert	????
	Portland,	OR	Yes	William R. Johnson (Possible Mayer.)	1928
	Bremerton,	WA	Yes	John Moeller	1928
				(The case of this clock is by Palcar-- of whom nothing is known to this author. [See below notes.] )
	Bremerton,	WA	Yes	Jorgen Nelson	1928
	Mukilteo,	WA	Yes	Mrs. Robert McBride	1984
	Puyallup,	WA	Yes	Robert D. Johnson	1970
	Renton,	WA	Yes	Garlands Jewelers	1910
				(Howard case; Mayer mov't.) I suspect this is in error--Mayer used Howard movements, and had his cases cast locally
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	Ben Benton	1911
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	Carroll's Fine Jewelry	1913
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	HSPA***	1907
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	Mark Mayer	1984
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	City of Seattle	1985
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	Histmic (sic) Seattle	1984
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	Ben Bridge	1925
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	C. Cantrell	1932
	Seattle,	WA	Yes	Hardy's/Harry Arold	1904
	Spokane,	WA	Yes	Larsen's Clock Ctr.	1980
	Tacoma,	WA	Yes	City of Tacoma	1987
	Wenatchee,	WA	Yes	Le Roi Burton	1926
	Victoria,	British Columbia, Canada	Yes	Francis Jeweler (Possible Mayer.)	1910
	***Historic Seattle Preservation Authority
	Notes: These data are taken primarily from "STREET and TOWER CLOCKS of the State of Washington," a survey of the State of Washington, carried out and published in 1989 by members of NAWCC Chapters 53, 89, and 135, to whom I extend my thanks. This is an admittedly incomplete list of Mayer clocks.  If you know of others, please let me know. Joseph Mayer was evidently one of the few who rushed to Alaska in its Gold Rush days, and made his fortune.  Most returned poorer than when they left the Lower 48.  Regardless of the source of his funding, Joseph Mayer and Brothers started a jewelry manufacturing and wholesale business in 1897 in Seattle, Washington.  Joseph split off in 1922, forming the Joseph Mayer Co., which specialized in street clocks while Mayer Brothers concentrated on the jewelry side of the business. Mayer was an agent for the Edward Howard Company of Boston, Massachusetts, one of the leading street and tower clock manufacturers in the country.  He designed and had the clock cases cast in Seattle and bought the movements and motion works (dial drives) from Howard.  His foundry is said to have been the Pacific Car and Foundry & Co. in Renton, Washington.  This later became known as PACCAR, so I suspect the "Palcar" above is a bit of careless orthography.  In later years, Mayer manufactured his own movements and motion works, probably purchased the cases from a foundry, and set up clocks up and down the West Coast, until his death by his own hand in 1930. Ten Seattle Mayer Bros. (sic) clocks have received landmark status.  The below listed clocks are also mentioned in the same article.  The list is presented as I received it, as its construction is rather difficult to decipher logically.  The Puerto Rico installation is rather interesting, as no other Mayer clocks are known east of the Washington/Idaho border. TACOMA, WA (2) UNION TRAIN STATION TACOMA ANACORTES, WA CHELAN, WA BREMERTON, WA OLYMPIA ALBANY, ORE (ORIGINALLY PORTLAND) PUERTO RICO

	George M. Stevens Street Clocks
	City	State	Clock exists?	Owner	Date
	Boston,	MA	No	Hotel Woodcock	????
	Boston,	MA	No	Shuman Company	????
	Stevens street clocks also have a distinctly truncated base, and had the movement housed in the basement of the establishment owning the clock.  The dial(s) were driven via a leading-off rod under the sidewalk.  There are no known existing examples of Stevens street clocks.

	Seth Thomas Street Clocks
	Due to the thousands of clocks installed by this company, the records are treated elsewhere.  Go to the Seth Thomas Installations web page, and use your browser's "Find" function to search for post clock (search criterion is "post") installations. Seth Thomas Locale Records This listing will yield--usually--a name that may well be that of a jeweler.  It will NOT yield a specific clock installation, only the name of the owner, or the building in which it was installed. Seth Thomas Installations. This listing will yield the type of clock, whether tower, bracket, or post (street) clock, and approximate date installed.  The reader will have to do his/her own cross-correlation to determine whether the clock in question is the one sought. There exists, in microfilm format, a further listing of tower and post clock installations.  This listing has not been transcribed by anyone willing to post the listing on a public venue such as this--but it has been partially transcribed, in that the most interesting items of the installation are available, but not all the minutiæ are recorded.  This third list contains all the pertinent data peculiar to a particular clock installation, viz: Tower Clock A/C July 16/77 City Hall, Holyoke, Mass. $700. net care A. S. Hotchkiss 1 #14 Tower Stk. Mov't arranged for four 8 ft. plain dials 4 prs. Gilt Hands--heavy. 4 Setts Gilt Figures 2 centre pieces 3 wheels each 2 double 12 in pulleys 2 single 12 in pulleys 1 double 10 in pulley 3 Single 10 in pulleys 1 Square shaft 1 1/2 inches (one that you have with 3 arms.) 1 80 lb Hammer 300 ft. cord stk side 175 ft. Cord time side Bell above the mov't. 2 Sec. Pend heavy--gravity escap't. 3 Intermediates for Lge Size Couplings to match--2 with brass hubs to use for tin pipe. And so on, for many pages and volumes.  Unfortunately, there is no ready means of correlating the three existing lists with one another, excepting an attempt by Javier Albinarrate of Argentina at his website: Tower Clocks of the World (This site was temporarily down, but has recovered.) for which he is to be commended.  Of the dog-in-the-manger who has partially mechanized this third listing, no more will be said, except that a copy of that data would go a long way toward correlating the three available lists.

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Compare Donn's original version of this page if it still exists.