Independence Hall - Thomas Stretch Clock
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Independence Hall - Thomas Stretch Clock
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
A replica of the original 1753 Thomas Stretch clock now hangs on the west end of Independence Hall. This clock predated the clock tower.
The National Park Service constructed this replica of the Thomas Stretch clock face and masonry tower on Independence Hall 1973. Just like it looked during the Revolutionary War, only costing a bit more, the $159,000 clock was designed to look like a giant grandfather clock with a 14-foot case atop a 40-foot soapstone column.
The only major concessions to modernism is that the clock's red-brown and Persian blue eight-foot dial is now powered by electricity rather than wooden works and weights and to lessen the danger of deterioration, the original delicate wood carvings were cast in polyester bronze instead.
The original clock had dials mounted at both ends of the main building and connected to the clock movement in the middle by rods.
Although the clock was installed in the State House attic by mid-1753, Thomas Stretch did not receive payment for it for six years.
Finally, in 1829, the clock was removed, and the City of Philadelphia sold it to St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church at the corner of 4th and Race Streets. Sadly, the clock was destroyed during the May 1844 riots when they burned the church.
Copyright 2023 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
June 6th, 2023
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