*Location:

   "America" Tower
   First Baptist Church in Newton (ABC)
   Beacon Street at Center Street
   Newton Center, Massachusetts, USA
   LL: N 42.32966, W 71.19536

Site locator map

*Player:

   Sean Redrow, Music Director
   E: spredrow@aol.com

*Contact:

   First Baptist Church in Newton (ABC)
   848 Beacon Street
   Newton Center, MA  02459-1801
   T: 617-244-2997
   E: info@fbcnewton.org

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Bells are a memorial to Rev.Samuel F.
   Smith, minister here 1842-54 and the
   author of "America".  Original added
   semitone is flat 7th; the 1917 addition
   is the sharp 4th.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (chimestand) of 11 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D# in the middle octave
   Transposition is down 1 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     E F   /    ----  
   There are two added semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The instrument was enlarged in 1917
     with bells made by Meneely/Wvlt 
   Prior history:
     In 1898, the instrument was begun with 10 bells
       by Meneely/Wvlt
       There was one added semitone
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2012

The church Website has photos of the building on the History page (under Who We Are), which mentions the bells.  The Contact page has a good photo of the unusual bell tower.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meneely (Watervliet) bellfoundry.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meneely (Watervliet) 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 MA.

   This page was built from the database on  9-Feb-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2024/02/09
   and on technical data last updated on 2012/01/20