Milestones in other North American bell instruments

Contributing indirectly to the history of traditional carillons in North America are a number of developments in other sorts of tower bell installations on this continent. The list below attempts to present, in approximately chronological order, some of the significant events which occurred in that area.

NOTES:

All "firsts" listed below, as well as other similar distinctions, are with respect to North America unless otherwise stated.
For instruments constructed in stages, the current state of the instrument may not be shown here.
Some instruments may have been been moved since the original installation identified here, or the institution may have been renamed.
Links go to the site data page which reflects the current state of the instrument which is mentioned here, or which contains the bells described here.

Milestone years and events

1856: University of Notre Dame du Lac, Notre Dame, IN; The 23 bells by Bollée of France formed the first carillon-sized tower bell instrument, but were played from a mechanical drum until that was replaced by a traditional keyboard sometime after the middle of the 20th century.
1870: St. Joseph's Cathedral, Buffalo, NY; The second carillon-sized tower-bell instrument had 43 bells cast by Bollée, in 1866. It had a range of four octaves, of which the first two were mostly diatonic. This instrument no longer exists.
1899-1901: St. Vincent's Seminary, Philadelphia, PA; The original 26 bells of the fourth oldest carillon-sized instrument on the continent were installed by Paccard of France with a Maisonnave mechanically-assisted piano-like keyboard. (Later a traditional keyboard was installed. The site is now known as the Miraculous Medal Shrine.)
1942: Deeds Carillon, Dayton, OH; The only carillon-sized tower-bell instrument ever made by the Meneely/Troy foundry had 23 electrically-rung bells plus other non-speaking bells as memorials. Hung in chandelier style in the center of an open tower, it was modified several times and eventually replaced by a 50-bell traditional carillon.

Return to Indexes to non-traditional carillons in North America.

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This page was created 1997/02/13 and last revised 2018/11/12.

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