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Heritage Presbyterian Church Bell

"Yea, we have a goodly heritage."

The buyer of the old Second Presbyterian Church in Old Towne Alexandria asked me if I knew of anyone who might be interested in buying its 1871 bell. I went to see the old bell, which was stored on the dock behind the Torpedo Factory. I had to climb over construction debris to get to it--just inches from the Potomac River. It was surely divine protection which kept it from being stolen, damaged or knocked into the river by the trucks during the restoration of the Torpedo Factory!

Since the bell was both Presbyterian and from Alexandria, our church bought it--for a song--and [it was] delivered through the center of Alexandria to our church on a forkloader.

The giant bronze bell was cast at the Meneely Bell Foundry of West Troy, New York, in 1871. It is 31½ inches in diameter at its base, 29 inches high, and weighs about 1200 pounds. After we conferred with several bell companies, Bill Huff, a civil engineer in our congregation, drew up plans to build a tower in which to hang it, and oversaw its construction. The project cost $8,000, which was all contributed.

Before the process began, the bell was dedicated--on the ground--on a Sunday when the President and two other officers of the American Bell Association were visiting us, and participated in the ceremony.

While funds were being raised for the bell project, the bell was stored in the hallway between our two buildings. When we rang it inside the church, the sound boomed through the buildings like a canon, and people were all very much aware that we had a bell!

Church volunteers constructed the 25 foot high wooden tower from four specially selected center-sawn white oak trees. They also prepared the hole for the cement base, which was designed massive enough to withstand any wind ever to blow our way. The tower was constructed horizontally on the ground behind the church. When it was completed, it weighed about a ton. Twenty men lifted it, staggered with it a few feet, and then rested--often--as they slowly moved it to the front of the church. Then a 25 ton mobile crane and crew from the Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir raised the tower and the bell to their permanent positions. They did the job as a practice maneuver, which saved the church much money. The whole congregation then gathered around the bell during a church service to re-dedicate it in its new home.

In earlier days the dedication of a church bell was a momentous and joyous occasion in the life of a church and community. One tradition was to fill the inverted bell with liquor, and drink it dry before raising it. We omitted that challenging step!

We were concerned about the bell becoming a neighborhood nuisance, so it regularly rings only at noon and at six o'clock each day, and before church on Sunday mornings. Many people of the community have told me that they appreciate our bell's friendly reckoning of the passing time, (and I have observed children leaving the playground at Waynewood School when the bell rings at six in the evening!)

The ringing of our bell has also become a tradition for special occasions at our church. It rings at the end of the ceremony while the bride and groom are still kneeling on the chancel step--or they go outside and ring it with a rope, while their pictures are taken with the church in the background. ...

In addition to calling the community to worship and announcing important occasions, our bell also serves an important visual function for the church. The bell and tower have become a useful "landmark" for people trying to find our church as they drive down Fort Hunt Road. We are becoming known as the "Church with the Bell."

The bell in its tower, shiny by day and lighted by night, serves as both an audio and a visual symbol--telling the community that Heritage Church is here and is reaching out to the community.

Ring out the good news.

Copyright Lawrence A. Glassco
Heritage Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, Virginia 1990

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