By Howard Greninger
NEWPORT — As a child, Vermillion County Auditor Phyllis Orman recalls four large clocks atop the county courthouse keeping time.
“I do remember the clocks working when I was a kid. I have lived in Newport all my life and will be 61 this month and the clocks haven’t worked for years. I personally think it is a good idea to get them fixed,” Orman said.
However, Vermillion County’s budget cannot fund a repair, so earlier this month, the county’s Board of Commissioners gave approval for a Mooresville company to repair the clocks if it can raise $12,000 to $14,000 in private donations.
JJ Smith, owner of Smith’s Bell and Clock Service Inc., said Vermillion County’s courthouse clock is unique in that each of the four 5-foot diameter clock faces contains wooden hour and minute indicators.
“Not many clocks have wooden hands. Usually they are made of steel or aluminum or sometimes cast iron,” Smith said.
Smith’s company recently has renovated or repaired county courthouse clocks in Ripley and Marshall counties in Indiana and in Cumberland County in Illinois.
The existing Vermillion County Courthouse was dedicated June 11, 1925, Vermillion County Historian Eliza Porter said.
Repairs to the courthouse clocks were most likely last made in the 1930s, she said.
That correlates to about the period when a clock control box in the courthouse was manufactured by Simplex, Smith said. The clock’s central motor is worn, Smith added, and replacement parts are no longer available.
“We will retrofit a new drive unit to make it work. We will replace the old movements with some bronze gear movements that will hold up for decades to come,” Smith said.
Smith said he plans to start a fundraising effort in early January. “We have yet to have a county that does not raise the funds necessary to complete a project. A courthouse clock usually serves as an icon of the community,” he said. “The more we raise, the more work we can do.”
Fundraising efforts may include a 5K run or a car wash and passing out fliers seeking donations. Smith said he hopes to start repair work next spring.
“We told [Smith] if he can fix the clock at no cost to the county, more power to him,” said Commissioner Harry Crossley. “I have been a county commissioner since 1989 and the clocks were stopped long before that. I looked at fixing them four or five years ago but the County Council did not approve the money.”
The current Vermillion County Courthouse is the fourth in the county since 1824, Porter said.
Fire destroyed a majority of the previous courthouses, including a fire caused when, at 1:30 a.m. on May 27, 1923, a bolt of lightning struck the roof of the southwest corner of a courthouse built in 1867 and expanded in 1903, according to “Newport and Vermillion Township (Vermillion County, Indiana) The First 100 Years: 1824-1924.” The book was written by Harold O’Donnell and published in 1969.
The bid to construct the existing courthouse was let Dec. 29, 1923, to Jasper N. Good of Columbus, at cost of $358,707. The courthouse was then dedicated in June 1925.
Donations for the clock repair can be mailed to Clock Tower Renovation, Vermillion County Auditor, P.O. Box 190, Newport, IN 47966.
Help needed
• Private donations are needed to repair clocks atop Vermillion County Courthouse. Donations for the clock repair can be mailed to Clock Tower Renovation, Vermillion County Auditor, P.O. Box 190, Newport, IN 47966.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com
