GREENFIELD — The David Wells bell, a 250-pound silver bell that was constructed at Paul Revere’s foundry and given to Greenfield resident David Wells in 1799, is in need of a new home — and no one seems to have the space for it.
The bell currently sits in the center of an approximately 3-by-4-foot Plexiglas case in Greenfield Community College’s lobby and has remained a fixture of the city, though never fixed to one location for too long. It was given to the city in the mid-1800s and installed in the schoolhouse on Federal Street, according to Greenfield Recorder archives. In 1857, it was moved to the Chapman Street School, where it remained for 79 years. In 1936, it was placed at the cupola of the Fire Station — which was newly built at the time — at 412 Main St.
“It is one of the oldest artifacts we have within the city,” Fire Chief Robert Strahan said. “Because the Fire Department was a caretaker of it for many, many years, I feel responsible to make sure that we find a place somewhere within the city so people can look at and admire this couple 100-year-old bell.”
Strahan said the bell, which had been exposed to the elements at its firehouse location, was removed from Main Street in the early 2000s and bounced around a number of city sites, including the basement of the Leavitt-Hovey House at 402 Main St., before it was brought to GCC when the city demolished the Fire Station to make room for the new Greenfield Public Library.
According to Greenfield’s Chief of Staff Erin Anhalt, GCC reached out to her a couple weeks ago “saying that they’re getting ready to remodel and they wanted to know how to return the bell” to the city. Anhalt said that while Strahan expressed enthusiasm over the option of returning the bell to the Fire Department by rehoming it at the new 41 Main St. Fire Station, it lacks a space to display the artifact to the public.
“It is very heavy and large, and finding a home for it is, just space-wise, is a little difficult,” Anhalt said. “The firehouse has expressed that they might be interested in it again, there’s potentially room at the library, and we are possibly going to reach out to some other buildings and organizations to see if somebody else might be interested.”
At a library board of trustees meeting last week, however, members voiced hesitation to accept the bell, saying the library also has limited public space. Library Director Anna Bognolo said room could potentially be made to store the bell outside the library’s Local History Room, in the place of a laptop kiosk that will be removed in August.
“[GCC] was holding it for us while all of these construction projects were going on with the library. When they asked if we’d like to have it, my initial response was, ‘I don’t know where we would put it.’ So it’s huge, it’s massive. … I don’t think we have any space where we could put it,” Bognolo said. “It’s a tight space and it’s right outside of the Local History Room, so it’s not as if it’s a very visible space.”
Historical Society of Greenfield Curator Meguey Baker, when asked about the bell in an interview Thursday, added that the city’s historical museum on Church Street “could not responsibly accept” the bell, noting that the museum simply has no room.
Strahan, however, said although the new Fire Station lacks space to display the bell publicly, the department would make room for it if the library could not or would not house it.
“We want it to come home. We have limited room at the firehouse, but we certainly will make room for it where we can,” Strahan said. “I suggested that it goes into the library because of the significance of the address, 412 Main St., which is the same address as the old firehouse where it had been for many years, but the city needs to take responsibility for the upkeep and condition of this very historic piece of history.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.
