They may not be as famous as the historic Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, but these 13 bells are certainly notable in their own right.
The brass bells hanging from a 100-foot-tall tower at the Ocean City Tabernacle were commissioned in 1893 by the federal government as part of the ceremonies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
“I literally can touch these bells that were part of such a historic event,” said Tom Sherf, the Tabernacle’s executive director.
The Tabernacle acquired the musical bells in 1998 as a gift from Cooper Hospital in Camden and has used them since then to play hymns.
Years of exposure to the shore’s salty air have taken a toll on the bells, though, so now the Tabernacle plans to have them refurbished. Afterward, they will be returned to their place of honor on the Tabernacle bell tower overlooking Wesley Avenue at Sixth Street.
Three of the bells removed from the tower are prepared for their trip to the Verdin Bell Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio, for restoration.Using two large cranes, crews from the Verdin Bell Co. began carefully removing the bells Wednesday. Once all of the bells are taken down, they will be transported to the company’s headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, to restore them back to working condition.
“The salt air rotted them out. There’s no music now,” Chuck Gauvreau, lead service technician for the Verdin Bell Co., explained of the components in the bells that play the hymns.
The bells range in weight from 250 to 3,800 pounds, Gauvreau said. By Wednesday morning, seven of the 13 bells had been removed from the tower.
The Tabernacle hopes to have the bells refurbished in time to commemorate the 28th anniversary of their dedication in Ocean City on June 14, 1998, Sherf said.
He called it a great way to “restore the legacy of the Tabernacle and Ocean City.”
Ocean City Tabernacle Executive Director Tom Sherf says the bells are a key part of the Tabernacle's history.Sherf would also like to have the bells back in Ocean City as part of the nation’s America 250 celebration commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
A bronze plaque at the base of the Tabernacle’s tower chronicles the history of the 13 bells. They symbolized the 13 original colonies when they were commissioned by the federal government in 1893 for the U.S. Capitol ceremony.
After their use in Washington, D.C., they were purchased by George Holl and donated to the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Camden in memory of his parents, J. George and Catherine Holl.
When the church later closed, the property was purchased by Cooper Hospital. The hospital’s board, in turn, wanted the bell tones restored to their “full glory,” so the bells were gifted to the Ocean City Tabernacle.
“Through the generosity of many friends of the Tabernacle, the bells have been restored by the Verdin Bell Company in Cincinnati,” the plaque reads as part of their dedication on June 14, 1998.
Now, they will undergo another round of restoration. The plaque will also be restored.
A bronze plaque chronicles the history of the bells.In recent years, the bells were used to play hymns each hour. Sherf said he wants to use the refurbished bells as a “call to worship” to signal the start of the Tabernacle’s Sunday services at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. He also plans to have them play hymns at 9 a.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Sherf said that the bells are symbolic of the history of the Tabernacle itself. The Tabernacle was a key part of the founding of Ocean City as a seaside Christian resort in 1879 by four Methodist ministers, Ezra B. Lake, James Lake, S. Wesley Lake and William Burrell.
Over the years, the Tabernacle has grown to offer year-round concerts, pre-school and after-school programs and an array of other community activities in addition to seasonal nondenominational worship services.
“This place is here to serve Ocean City with all the events we have,” Sherf said.
“There is a ton of history here,” he added.
More information on the Ocean City Tabernacle is available at https://octabernacle.org/.
A worker stands on a platform to guide the crane removing the bells from the tower.
