*Location:

   North tower
   St.Helena's RC Cathedral
   Warren Street at East Lawrence Street
   Helena, Montana, USA
   LL: N 46.59033, W 112.03381

Site locator map

*Player:

   Jonathan Embry, Director of Music
   E: jembry/@/sthelenas DOTorg

*Contact:

   St. Helena's Parish Offices
   530 North Ewing Street
   Helena, MT  59601-4001
   T: (406)442-5825   F: (406)449-5113
   E: koneill@sthelenas.org
   - or -
   Michael Vreeburg,
     Pastoral Associate for Liturgy
   E: vreeburg@sthelenas.org

*Schedule:

   Angelus at 1200 & 1800; Mass call Sun;
   hymns throughout the day (auto).

*Remarks:

   Memorial to Mary Margaret Cruse, by her
   father, Col.Thomas Cruse, builder of
   the north tower, also donor of an Estey
   pipe organ in her memory.
   Added semitones - all except lowest
   two and highest one.  Four largest
   bells originally swung; now only the
   bourdon does.
   Electrified in 1957; renovated 2003.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard chime of 15 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C# in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  1 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C F   /    NONE  
   There are four added semitones
   The whole instrument was installed in 1914
     with bells made by McShane     
   Auxiliary mechanisms: EW1nW3
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2012

The Website of the Catholic Diocese of Helena includes a tiny photo of the building on the home page

A photo of the twin towers of the cathedral.

A Waymarking page for these bells has 4 photos of the building, and a history of it.

A tour page about the city includes a building photo from a different perspective.

An artist's drawing of the whole building

A local newspaper article from The Independent-Record (Helena, MT) 26 Jan 1914, Mon, p1, reports the donation of the chime.

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 MT.

   This page was built from the database on  3-Mar-21
   based on textual data last updated on 2021/03/03
   and on technical data last updated on 2012/02/18