Fire Bell Tower

The Port Townsend Fire Bell Tower was originally constructed in the year 1890. This wooden tower is about 75 ft (22.86 m) tall. It holds a 1500 lb (680.38 kg) brass bell and has a highly sophisticated mechanized ringing system. This intricate ringing system was meant to alert the earlier City Fire Department personnel to the location of a fire by the bell clanging various coded combinations.

The Fire Bell Tower is well preserved, monitored, and maintained by the Jefferson County Historical society (JCHS). The JCHS not only maintains the Bell Tower’s structure but also works with the fire department to ensure proper functioning of the bell ringing system. Besides, it coordinates with the City to maintain the grounds and to keep the Fire Bell Tower open to the public.

In 1971, funds of about $9,500 were raised by the JCHS and hundreds of volunteers were organized to complete the repair, restoration, preservation, and landscaping work.
It was in 1975 that the Fire Bell Tower was sited on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1999, after a routine inspection revealed the interior and exterior deterioration of the Bell Tower, the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation designated it as the “Most Endangered Property� of Washington.

The JCHS then organized volunteers and raised funds for the Port Townsend Bell Tower Reconstruction project. This project aimed at repairing all the defects in past construction and design, replacing all the damaged elements, eliminating all the causes of damage,  repairing all the important historical building components like the overhaul of the bell-clanging mechanism, installing security, lighting, and fire detection and suppression systems, establishing ample drainage, and enhancing the museum overall quality display.