The friendly, smiling clock in the courthouse was installed in 1902 about a year after the courthouse was built. The City of Beloit took up donations to purchase it with a then cost of $1,104, totaling $41,950 in today’s terms.
It is a Seth Thomas weighted clock and it had to be wound once a week by hand. The bell, which for so many years has chimed the hour of the day, weighs 1,500 pounds. Mr. Andy Manifold, an early day local jeweler, had the contract for the clock.
The clock, with its four faces, was placed in the limestone tower with native Warrensburg sandstone surrounding it, thus making it visible to all parts of the city. It is one of the tallest stone structures In Kansas. A soft light keeps the faces shining all through the night.
Mr. Frank Collet was the janitor at the courthouse for 20 years. He climbed three flights of stairs every Saturday afternoon at 3:30 to the storeroom, where the county records were stored, and then continued the rest of the way climbing three stories by ladder. The little room that encloses the clock mechanism is just large enough for one person to step inside, attach a crank, and wind up by hand with slow even turns. The two iron weights on the cables crept down many feet below the tower room during the week. One weight, which was very heavy, came up slowly while the lighter one cam in a hurry. It usually took 45 minutes to complete the winding.
In 1943, it was made to operate by electricity. In 1963, court house janitor, Mr. Wagner, oiled it once a week and reset the hands when the electricity went off.
Professional painters often paint the hands, face, and numerals of the glass clock face. The west face is wooden as a result of a weather related incident in 1958. The three other faces are the original glass. (All faces were replaced with plexiglass in 2001).
The faithful clock has watched over Beloit the past 124 years and has seen changes.
