• Historical Highlights
  
• Inscription
• What it was called
• Cracked
• Dubious note
• Weights & Measures
  
• Detailed composition
• About bronze
• References

Current location: Liberty Bell Pavilion (since 1976), Market Street between 5th & 6th, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Bell owner: City of Philadelphia. The National Park Service is responsible for maintaining and displaying it.

Tourism information: Daily 9am-5pm with extended hours July and August. The bell is visible 24 hours a day. 215-597-8974

Historical Highlights

Bell original cast: London's Whitechapel Foundry, 1752. Arrived in Philadelphia in August, and cracked during test ringing. It was melted-down to make a second bell.

Bell recast 1: Pass & Stow Philadelphia, April 1753. It's poor tone was believed to be from too much copper. It was melted-down to make the third and final bell.

Bell recast 2: Pass & Stow Philadelphia, June 1753. This is the celebrated Liberty Bell that exists today.

The inscription changed during the recasting process. The table below compares the inscription specified in the Whitechaple contract with the words inscribed on the Pass and Stow bell.

As Specified in the contract	As recast by Pass and Stow
BY order of the Assembly of the povince of Pensylvania for the State house in the City of Philadª 1752 Proclaim Liberty thro' all the Land to all the inhabitants thereof Levit. XXV.10.	Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV.V X. By order of the ASSEMBLY of the Province of PENSYLVANIA for the State House in Philadª Pass and Stow Philadª MDCCLIII

• Notes:
  • "province" is misspelled "povince" in the contract.
  • "Pensylvania" was an accepted alternative spelling of Pennsylvania throughout the 1700's.

What it was called
For its first 75 years the bell was simply known as the "State House Bell". Then, in 1828, it was replaced by the 4000 pound Wilbank bell. From this date to 1893 it had several different monikers (listed below).

Not until it was 86 years old was it first called the "Liberty Bell". This first published reference to the bell with its now famous name was in a pamphlet from the Friends of Freedom, a Boston abolitionist organization, in 1839. It wasn't until 1893, however, that the new name was universally used. More...

It can be said with certainly that it cracked sometime between 1817 to 1846 and most likely occurred between 1841 and 1845, as it celebrated either Washington's birthday or July 4th (ref. "The Story of the Liberty Bell", by David Kimball).

Greatest Misconception
The order for repairing the hairline crack was given so the bell could be tolled for Washington's birthday, in 1846. This involved machining a slot through the bell along the length of the crack, thus preventing the two sides of the bell from vibrating against each other.

This is one of the most important events in the bell's history since it created the bell's distinctive trademark feature - the visible dog leg "crack" that we see today. Without it the Liberty Bell would look like any other bell.

This "crack" is also the Liberty Bell's greatest misconception. That is, it is not a crack at all. Its a machined slot approximately 1/2 inch wide and 24.5 inches long. The actual crack was a hairline fracture and could not be seen except by very close inspection. Two rivets were inserted in this slot to control the vibration of the two sides and restored the bell's tonal quality, at least temporarily.

"Last clear note"
The work was completed in time for Washington's birthday February 22, 1846 when, "It gave out clear notes and loud... until noon, when it received a sort of compound facture in a zig-zag direction through one of its sides, which put it completely out of tune..." - Public Ledger, Feb. 26, 1846.

Thus, approximately noon of February 22, 1846 its last loud and clear note was heard.

The saddest time in the bell's illustrious history was in 1894 when it was discovered that the private night watchman hired to protect the bell had instead chipped away substantial pieces from it. He sold them to the highest bidder. At least 25 lbs. of bronze was cold-chiseled from the inside lip of the bell.

For the next twenty years the Liberty Bell was displayed the glass case shown to the right.

Bell Tone: E-flat (ref. Charles Boland, "Ring in the Jubilee" 1973)

Composition: Bronze - 70% copper, 25% tin, small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver (see detailed composition below.)

• Bell
  • circumference around the lip: 12 ft.
  • circumference around the crown: 7 ft. 6 in.
  • height lip to crown: 3 ft.
  • height over the crown: 2 ft. 3 in.
  • thickness at lip: 3 in.
  • thickness at crown: 1-1/4 in.
  • weight -originally: 2080 lbs.
  • weight -today: ~2055 lbs. (at least 25 lbs. have been maliciously chiseled off the inside lip)

• Clapper
• length: 3 ft. 2 in.
• weight: 44-1/2 lbs.
  

• Yoke
• weight: 200 lbs.
• wood: American Elm (a.k.a. slippery elm)

• Cracks (ref. Park curator Bob Giannini in 1993)
• Length of visible hairline fracture: 28"
• Length of drilled crack: 24 1/2

Material	% Composition
Copper	64.95 - 73.10
Tin	24.00 - 30.16
Lead	1.30 - 5.47
Zinc	0.25 - 1.65
Iron	0.00 - 0.87
Silver	0.14 - 0.26
Antimony	0.08 - 0.18
Arsenic	0.19 - 0.42
Gold	0.02 - 0.06
Nickel	0.00 - 0.28

About bronze (ref. Compton's Encyclopedia)
Bronze is copper mixed with small amounts of tin. Tin increases hardness, making bronze more resistant to wear than copper. Bronzes with 10 percent or more tin are harder, stronger, and more corrosion resistant than brass, which is a copper and zinc alloy.

Bell bronze is very hard and gives bells a special tone unmatched by other alloys. It is one fifth to one fourth tin (more about bronze).

Venerable Relic: The Story of the Liberty Bell, by David Kimball, 1989, Eastern National Park & Monument Association, Philadelphia, PA

Loud and Clear: The Story of Our Liberty Bell, by Harold V.B. Boorhis and Ronald E. Heaton, 1970, Ronald E. Heaton, Norristown, PA

The Independence Square Neighborhood 1926, The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, Philadelphia, PA.