Vernon County Historical Society: Courthouse clock tower tour
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Special to the Daily Mail
Bushwhacker Museum coordinator Will Tollerton and Vernon County Courthouse Custodian Rick Warren took a group of eight sightseers on a tour of the clock tower on April 15.
Participating in the tour were Judy Herstein and Staci Keys with Nevada Regional Medical Center, Pat Miller and Michelle Westerhold with MU Extension, Rick Miller, Whitney Mowry and Dr. Ron and Valo Jones.
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The tour began in the attic space of the courthouse, which was originally intended as the location of the county jail. The space was renovated in 2003, according to Denise Todd, secretary to Judge Jim Bickel. "This is probably the best judge's office in the state of Missouri", she said. Todd thoroughly enjoys working in the third floor office space, situated just below four soaring brick arches which stand at the base of the tower.
A long climb up the original stairs to the tower makes for wobbly knees for anyone uncomfortable with heights, but a great view of the city awaits the bold. The old bell still hangs in the tower just as it did more than a century ago, although the original mechanism is long gone. "I like coming up here to watch the storms role in," Warren said, peering through the louvered windows in the tower room.
The Vernon County Courthouse, built between 1906 and 1908, is the third such building to sit on the Square in the heart of Nevada. It took three bond elections to approve the $75,000 needed to build the structure -- more than $1.8 million in today's dollars.
The famous Seth Thomas Clock Company of Chicago installed the tower clock in 1907 at a cost of $1,400. It proudly chimed out the hours over Nevada for decades with the assistance of a huge bell and a ton of metal gears, weights and an 8-foot pendulum. The clock used more than 2,000 pounds of weights, which had to be hand cranked up three stories once a week. The metal bob on the end of the pendulum often required adjustment due to temperature fluctuations.
The clock deteriorated over the years as pigeon droppings, temperature and moisture corroded the gears. The late E.A. Ephland, who was courthouse custodian from the 1930s through the 1960s, once said that during his tenure, a metal cable once snapped, sending the weights crashing through the ceiling outside the courtroom. After a while, the clock ceased to tell time accurately and was frequently broken down.
Calvin Thomas did a major overhaul and cleaning of the clock in 1981. Another overhaul in 1982 replaced the weights and gears with an electric motor. The clock was plagued with breakdowns in the mid-1980s before the problems of burned-out solenoids was resolved. Under the care of current courthouse custodian Rick Warren, the clock stays on time, save for the occasional power outage.
"I am really grateful for the cooperation of the commissioners in letting us do this tour, and especially Rick Warren for showing us around the tower," said Will Tollerton, Bushwhacker Museum Coordinator. "This was a great fundraiser for the museum, and we will probably do it again next year."