This page focuses attention on those institutions in North America which own (or have owned) two or more tower bell instruments of any kind, whether at the same time or sequentially. Included here (but nowhere else on the GCNA Website) are tubular tower chimes as listed on the TowerBells Website. Not included here are instances where an instrument was replaced with another instrument of the same kind after destruction by fire.
The institutions are grouped according to how their instruments are (or have been) located - e.g., in the same tower, in different places on the same building, in different buildings on the same property, or on different properties. Within each group, institutions are listed approximately in the order that they acquired their second tower bell instrument.
NOTES: Sites are tagged as follows:
At the National Cathedral in Washington (DC), the central tower (the Gloria in Excelsis Tower) was dedicated in 1964. It has a 53-bell carillon in the lower belfry and a 10-bell ring in the upper belfry.
WASHINGTON - NC/1 : USA - DC trad WASHINGTON - NC/2 : USA - DC ring
In the tower of the Episcopal Church of St.Martin-in-the-Fields in Philadelphia (PA), there is a 9-bell chime in the upper belfry, with a ring of 8 hung below it. Both were made by the same foundry, nearly a century apart.
PHILADELPHIA - STMTF/1 : USA - PA chime PHILADELPHIA - STMTF/2 : USA - PA ring
In Toronto (ON), St.James Cathedral (Anglican) has an old 10-bell chime in the original (now upper) belfry. Within the tower has been constructed a new lower belfry to house North America's first ring of 12 bells, most of which are older than the cathedral.
TORONTO - STJA/1 : CANADA - ON chime TORONTO - STJA/2 : CANADA - ON ring
St.Paul's United Methodist Church in Houston (TX) has a 10-bell chime in the original (now upper) belfry and a ring of 8 bells in the newly-created lower belfry.
HOUSTON - STP/1 : USA - TX chime HOUSTON - STP/2 : USA - TX ring
Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston (TX) originally had four rope-swung bells in its belfry. When a new lower belfry was constructed to house a ring of 8 bells, the original four bells were tuned and augmented to a chime of 9 bells.
HOUSTON - PM/1 : USA - TX chime HOUSTON - PM/2 : USA - TX ring
In Bloomfield Hills (MI), the Kirk in the Hills has a 77-bell carillon in the church tower, and a slightly younger 12-bell glockenspiel (automatic chime accompanying animated figures) over an entrance to the education wing.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS - KH/1 : USA - MI trad BLOOMFIELD HILLS - KH/2 : USA - MI chime
The tower of First-Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln (NE) received a 48-bell carillon in 1931. In the 1990 renovation and expansion of that instrument, 28 treble bells were removed and made into a chamber carillon (indoors), which has variously been located in the balcony of the main church or in the back of the chapel.
LINCOLN - FP/1 : USA - NE trad LINCOLN - FP/2 : USA - NE non-trad
At the Episcopal Church of the St.James-the-Less in Philadelphia (PA), the freestanding tower of the Wanamaker Mausoleum has both a 15-bell conventional chime and a 16-note tubular chime. The tubular bells are hung around the outside of the frame which carries the conventional bells.
PHILADELPHIA - STJL/1 : USA - PA chime PHILADELPHIA - STJL/2 : USA - PA tubular chime
In Nashville, the capitol of Tennessee, the Bicentennial Capitol Mall contains 95 Tennessee Bicentennial Bells, one for each county of the state, distributed among the micro-belfries which form the tops of 50 stone pillars standing in two concentric circles. The bells are divided into two non-traditional carillons, one playable from a traditional keyboard with electric action and both playable from separate electric keyboards or automatically. Although these instruments are not confined to a single belfry in the usual sense of the word, there isn't a better category on this page into which to put them.
NASHVILLE - TB/1 : USA - TN non-trad NASHVILLE - TB/2 : USA - TN non-trad
On the main campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, there is a 61-bell concert carillon in a freestanding tower, a 42-bell practice carillon on top of the Music School Building, and a 14-bell chime in a clocktower on the Student Building.
BLOOMINGTON - 1 : USA - IN trad - 61 BLOOMINGTON - 2 : USA - IN trad - 42 BLOOMINGTON - 3 : USA - IN chime
The University of Texas in Austin has both a 56-bell carillon (enlarged from a chime) and an 11-bell automatic chime.
AUSTIN - 1 : USA - TX chime AUSTIN - 2 : USA - TX trad
The Glenwood Mission Inn (now called simply Mission Inn) of Riverside (CA) has a collection of conventional and oriental bells scattered throughout the building and grounds, as well as a 25-note tubular chime in a belfry on top of the building.
RIVERSIDE - MI/1 : USA - CA coll RIVERSIDE - MI/2 : USA - CA tubular chime
At the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Monastery in Jordanville (NY), a Russian-style zvon was assembled from second-hand bells (mostly American) collected over a period of many years; it now hangs in a gabled balcony on the monastery church. More recently, a complete (and much heavier) zvon was installed in a belfry atop the gatehouse for the central complex of buildings.
JORDANVILLE - 1 : USA - NY zvon (old) JORDANVILLE - 2 : USA - NY zvon (new)
At the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadelupe, Mexico City, there are two modern sets of bells, and possibly also some old Spanish bells. One of the modern sets, made of major-third bells, is part of an astronomical clock in a freestanding tower. The other set, a more traditional chime, is presumably located in the tower of the Basilica itself.
MEXICO CITY - SMG/1 : MEXICO non-trad MEXICO CITY - SMG/2 : MEXICO chime
Berea College (KY) has a 10-bell chime in the tower of Phelps Stokes Chapel and a 56-bell carillon in the tower of the Draper Building.
BEREA - 1 : USA - KY chime BEREA - 2 : USA - KY trad
At Miami University of Ohio, in Oxford, there is a 14-bell chime (relocated from its original place of installation) as well as a 50-bell non-traditional carillon.
OXFORD - 1 : USA - OH chime OXFORD - 2 : USA - OH non-trad
The University of the South in Sewanee (TN), has a carillon of 56 bells in the chapel tower and a ring of 8 bells in the clocktower of nearby Breslin Hall.
SEWANEE - 1 : USA - TN trad SEWANEE - 2 : USA - TN ring
At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, there is a carillon on the Main Campus and a carillon on the North Campus.
ANN ARBOR - UM/1 : USA - MI trad ANN ARBOR - UM/2 : USA - MI trad
Grand Valley State University (MI) has a carillon on its main campus in Allendale and another on its satellite campus in Grand Rapids.
ALLENDALE : USA - MI trad GRAND RAPIDS - GVSU : USA - MI trad
When St.Mark's Episcopal Church moved from downtown New Canaan (CT) to the suburbs, the old building and its chime were sold, and the new building was equipped with a carillon. As in most such cases, both instruments are represented by a single entry in the database.
NEW CANAAN : USA - CT trad
When Furman University occupied its original campus in downtown Greenville (SC), it had a 10-bell chime in a belltower attached to a building. Although the chime was apparently scrapped (the building and belltower having been demolished), a freestanding reproduction of the tower was constructed on the new suburban campus, and a 59-bell carillon was installed in it.
GREENVILLE - FU/1 : USA - SC [chime] GREENVILLE - FU/2 : USA - SC trad
In 1936, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary of Evanston (IL) acquired an American-made chime which had previously been in Grace Episcopal Church, Chicago. In 1954, that was replaced by the present carillon.
EVANSTON - SW : USA - IL trad
At the McDonogh School (MD), an old American chime was scrapped and a modern carillon installed in its place.
MCDONOGH : USA - MD trad
At the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the name "The Denny Chimes" has been associated with three different things in the same bell tower - first an 18-note tubular chime, then an electronic device, and finally the present 25-bell non-traditional carillon.
TUSCALOOSA - UA/1 : USA - AL [tubular chime] TUSCALOOSA - UA/2 : USA - AL non-trad
At St.Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City, a fire in 1905 destroyed the previous building and its chime. A larger chime was installed in the new building, and recently that was enlarged to carillon size.
NEW YORK - STT : USA - NY trad
At the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston (MA), which is the "Mother Church" of the Christian Science denomination, a 15-note tubular chime was installed in the original tower in the 1890s. When the building was expanded in the early 1900s, a conventional chime was installed in the "west tower" (though there are actually two low towers on the west side); the tubular chime became disused, and eventually was dismantled and stored. In 1984, an 18-bell chime (potentially expandable to a 24-bell carillon) was installed in the original tower (now called the east tower).
BOSTON - FCC/1 : USA - MA tubular chime BOSTON - FCC/2 : USA - MA chime, 1907 BOSTON - FCC/3 : USA - MA chime, 1984
At Smith College in Northampton (MA), a chime in the tower of College Hall was gradually expanded and revised to form a carillon. By the time it reached its present size of 47 bells, all of the original 12 bells were gone. Independently, a ring of 8 bells was installed in a purpose-built tower elsewhere on campus.
NORTHAMPTON - 1 : USA - MA trad NORTHAMPTON - 2 : USA - MA ring
At Baylor University, Waco, TX, the adminstration building originally housed a 25-note Deagan tubular chime. When that was replaced by the present 48-bell carillon, it was first put into storage, then sold to its present owner in Uniontown (OH). Elsewhere on the Baylor campus, a 25-bell non-traditional carillon was installed more recently.
UNIONTOWN : USA - OH tubular chime WACO - BU/2 : USA - TX trad WACO - BU/3 : USA - TX non-trad
Palmer College (formerly School) of Chiropractic, in Davenport (IA), purchased a set of 9 bells which is presumed to have formed a chime. In the same year, the school purchased a 16-note Deagan tubular chime, which it subsequently replaced with an electronic device. The locations which these instruments occupied have not been determined.
DAVENPORT - P : USA - IA chime DAVENPORT - P/2 : USA - IA [tubular chime]
Return to Indexes to sites in North America.
This page was created 2005/09/22 and last revised 2007/09/12.
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