Centennial Bell Foundry

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The Centennial Bell Foundry was founded in Milwaukee in 1876 by George Campbell a Scott, who immigrated to America in 1850. The company was named The Centennial Bell Foundry Gardiner Campbell & Sons. Along with bells, the foundry also cast diving bells to be used by underwater divers for work along the Great Lake region of the US.

The foundry cast many single bells and a number of peals that are mostly located around Milwaukee. Even though the foundry was smaller than most of the major foundries in America at the time, they cast many large bells. In 1890 they cast a large, 5,000 Lb. fire bell for the Seatle Fire Department. The bell was only used as a fire bell for about 25 years and then became obsolete. It has been on display in Seatle since about 1952.

They are known mostly for the single chime of bells that they cast for Ringling Brothers Circus which was installed on a wagon that became one of only a few traveling chimes in American history. This was cast in 1892 and was a chime of 9 bells with the largest being approx. 1,200 Lb. G#1. It could be played from a chime stand of vertical levels, unlike the typical chime of the day being played from horizontal levels the player would push down. This chime still exists in the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI.

The other accomplishment the bell foundry is known for is for the huge bell they cast in 1896 for the Milwaukee City Hall. The bell, which still exists today is named the Solomen Juneau after Solomen Juneau who help found the city of Milwaukee in 1846. The bell is a staggering 20,000 Lbs. and is the 3rd largest bell ever to be founded in America.

In 1897 the foundry cast another huge bell, this one for the University of Wisconsin in Menomonie. This bell was approx. 7,000 Lbs. It was installed in a clock tower on campus and served as an hour bell. In 1914 the striking mechanism malfunctioned and the bell stopped working. For years students from the university would climb the tower and beat on the bell, eventually cracking it. In 1997 the bell was removed from the tower and put on display.  

George Gardiner Campbell died in 1898 in a diving bell accident while searching for cargo in a ship that had gone down. After the accident his sons continued operating the foundry into the early 1900’s but ultimately the foundry closed