Elizabeth Jane Eighmey Memorial

*Location:

   St.Luke's United Methodist Church
   12th & Main Streets
   Dubuque, Iowa, USA
   LL: N 42.50396, W 90.66906

Site locator map

*Player:

   R.R.S. Stewart
   E: countess14/@/gmail DOTcom
   - and -
   L. David Patterson
   - and -
   Heather Williams
   - and -
   Ann Duchow

   1913-14 E.W.Atchison
   1914-18 C.W.Baumgartner
   1918-69 W.J.Baumgartner
   1969-91 Dr.R.W.Clewell, Jr.
   1991-2006 Kathy Reid
   2006-18 L. Loeppke

*Contact:

   St.Luke's Church Office
   1199 Main Street
   Dubuque, IA  52001-4778
   T: (563)582-4543   F: (563)239-9010
   E: dbqstluke@gmail.com

*Schedule:

   Sundays for worship services 0830 &
   1045, except only 1000 Memorial Day
   thru Labor Day.

*Remarks:

   Donated by C.H.Eighmey.
   Added semitones sharp 4th & flat 7th;
   hold-down swivels for all notes.
   Rehung by Verdin in 2003, with new
   cable transmission and shortened key
   travel; bass bell no longer swings.
   Guided tours of building available;
   see Website.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (chimestand) of 11 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D  in the middle octave
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   Keyboard range:     D E   /    NONE  
   There are two added semitones
   There is no practice console
   The whole instrument was installed in 1913
     with bells made by McShane     
   Auxiliary mechanisms: nW1   
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                  9 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:   16 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:  18 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:  50%
   Year of latest technical information source is 2006

The church Website has a rather squashed photo of the building and bell tower in its standard page heading, and a drawing from a different perspective appears in the rotating series on the home page.  The History page (under Welcome in the main menu) has two paragraphs about the chime, and a clickable photo of the chimestand.  The stop bar added by Verdin is the only visible modification of the elegant original.  Oddly, McShane provided hold-down swivels for every key, not just the two added semitones.

An article on the treasures of St.Luke's includes photos of RRS Stewart playing the bells.  There is also an audio clip (20:35) of an interview with church historian & tour guide R.R.S.Stewart.

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 IA.

   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 2006/10/30