*Location:

   Geneva Hall
   San Francisco Theological Seminary
   Seminary Road
   San Anselmo, California, USA
   LL: N 37.96986, W 122.56554

   Montgomery Hall (rooftop)

Site locator map

*Player:

   (unknown)

*Contact:

   San Francisco Theological Seminary
   105 Seminary Road
   San Anselmo, CA  94960-2905
   T: (415)451-2800
   E: marin-info@redlands.edu
   - or -
   Dr. Daniel Hoggatt,
     Professor of Church Music
   T: (415)451-2887
   - or -
   David Chalmers,
     Director of Physical Plant
   T: (415)451-2806
   (Email addresses available at sfts.edu)

*Schedule:

   Automatically at the hour, 0800-2000
   daily; very rarely played by hand.

*Remarks:

   The donor of this chime, Robert Dollar,
   also gave McShane chimes to Falkirk,
   Scotland, and San Rafael, California,
   and arranged for all shipping on his
   own steamship line.
   Added semitones sharp 4th & flat 7th.
   Unknown when autoplay was added.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (chimestand) of 13 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D  in the middle octave
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   Keyboard range:     D G   /    ----  
   There are two added semitones
   The whole instrument was installed in 1923
     with bells made by McShane     
   Auxiliary mechanisms: E     
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 1992

The Seminary Website Website opens with a view across the campus, with the bell tower visible in the near distance.  However, it has almost no information about the bells; most references to "Chimes" have to do with the semi-annual alumni newsletter.

The University Website has a history page that opens with a large photo of the bell tower and reports that in 2019, the seminary was embedded in (i.e., merged with, not purchased by) the University of Redlands as part of a new Graduate School of Theology.  A campus description opens with drone view of the bell tower, in which the bells are clearly visible; another view appears later in the series.

An extended biography of the donor was once part of a Website about the San Rafael cultural center which his former mansion has become; it mentions two of his three donations of chimes.  Unfortunately, the revised website now has only a brief history of Robert Dollar, and no mention of his gifts of bells.

A local newspaper article (San Anselmo Herald, Friday 31 Aug 1923, p1) reported the installation of the chime as the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dollar installed at seminary; it listed the inscriptions on all of the bells.  But the headline over the article was a gross exaggeration.

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the McShane bellfoundry.

Ranking among all North American chimes by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American chimes by weight (pitch).
Ranking among all North American chimes by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in CA.

   This page was built from the database on 22-Oct-21
   based on textual data last updated on 2021/08/15
   and on technical data last updated on 2021/08/15