The Revere Bell Tower Project
The original Revere Bell Tower on the site of the Revere mill in Canton, MA.
Handshouse aims to reconstruct a full-scale replica of the historic wooden bell tower that originally stood at the Revere foundry and mill on the site of the Paul Revere Heritage Site in Canton, MA.
Participants from several Massachusetts organizations will research and build the wooden bell tower using early 19th century tools, materials and methods, and install a period bronze bell. The reconstruction workshop will take place on the site of Revere’s original mill.
Upon completion, the tower and accompanying contextual materials will be on permanent exhibition as the centerpiece of new Paul Revere Museum of Discovery and Innovation.
Digital rendering of the Revere Bell Tower, courtesy of Laura Vicklund at Gunnstock Timber Frames.
Paul Revere at the time of the Revere Copper Mill and Foundry. Photo courtesy of the Paul Revere Memorial Association.
Paul Revere: Coppersmith
While many know of Paul Revere’s iconic “Midnight Ride” in 1775, marking a pivotal moment in the American Revolution, few know of his role as a coppersmith who shifted the tides of America’s economy.
In 1801, Revere left his past as a silversmith and built a copper foundry in Canton, MA. After teaching himself to forge copper and bronze, he began smithing a number of products that proved vital to the newborn United States.
Revere’s mill pioneered the first US-made copper sheathing, which was used for both the dome on top of the Massachusetts State House in Boston as well as the cladding for the bottom of the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides). In addition to this innovative copper work, the Revere foundry also became known for bell of notoriously high quality and of excellent timbre. The Revere foundry cast an estimated 900 bells throughout its existence, with more than 146 extant bells inscribed with the Revere name remaining across the United States today, and even one in Singapore.
One notable bell continues to toll through King's Chapel in Boston. The bell was originally cast in 1816, near the end of Revere’s time at the copper mill, and was the bell that tolled his death in 1818.
A historic Revere bell, identified by the family name cast on it.
Revere Bells
In his article for the Canton Citizen from March 3rd, 2022, George Comeau writes,
"Upon Paul Revere’s death in 1818, Joseph Warren took on the primary role in the casting of bells and through subsequent corporate name changes continued bell making until 1843. The name “Revere Boston” appeared on bells as early as 1822 through 1843, and the last bell entry in the Revere stockbooks was dated 1828, though bells made after 1824 did not carry a date on them. More than 969 bells were cast with the Revere name, and many were cast right here in Canton in a foundry building that was demolished after 1965.”
Bells emblazoned with the Revere name still toll across the nation.
Image from a 1900 article about the Revere Copper Rolling Mill. Image details the Revere Bell Tower with the fish weathervane and an image of the historic foundry, Courtesy of Canton Historical Commision.
Historic Louisiana Plantation Bell
An article about the Revere Bell Tower and weathervane from January 1900 from the library of the Canton Historic Commission states:
“Beneath [the] vane hangs a bell, the relic of another oppression which was cast off by years of war—a plantation bell from the Mississippi, sent North by Gen. Butler, and upon a rough wooden carriage, as picturesque as it is unique, is one of the brass field pieces, cast here, whose mates did active service in freeing the slaves.”
As detailed in the image to the left, the bell that resided in the original Revere Bell Tower from the 19th century was a reclaimed historic bell from a Louisiana plantation and was and was viewed even at the time as an emblem of emancipation.
The Handshouse Studio: Revere Bell Tower project will be including a historic Revere bell in the reconstructed tower from the same time period.
The original fish weathervane, possibly created by Paul Revere, that topped the historic Revere Bell Tower.
Fish Weathervane
The historic fish weathervane which topped the original Revere Bell Tower and was likely created by Paul Revere himself was recovered and is now in the collection of the Paul Revere Memorial Association/Paul Revere House.
The weathervane will be exhibited at the Paul Revere Memorial Association/Paul Revere House during the Revere Bell Tower Project. We will use the original artifact to create a replica weathervane to place atop top our outdoor physical bell tower reconstruction.
Model of the Revere Bell Tower built by Handshouse Studio Board Chair Nat Crosby of MDS Architects.
Revere Bell Tower Model
A preliminary model of the Revere Bell Tower was built by Handshouse Co-founder Rick Brown and Handshouse Board Chair Nat Crosby based on drawings and renderings by Nat Crosby of MDS Architects and Laura Vicklund of Gunnstock Timber Frames.
The model was used as a tactile exploration of many components of the tower, including the strength and viability of the simple timber frame design of two-sided bracing (as opposed to four-sided bracing) as well as the maximum size bell that could fit in and be supported by the wooden tower.
Throughout the Revere Bell Tower workshop exhibition, participants will create additional full and partial models of various scales to help conceptualize the structure and understand construction at a handheld level.
These models will be a part of the permanent exhibition at the Paul Revere Museum of Discovery and Innovation as supplementary materials to the full-scale replica tower.
Site of the Tower reconstruction
Site of the future Revere Bell Tower reconstruction and exhibition at the Paul Revere Museum of Discovery and Innovation in Canton, MA.