*Location:

   Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation
   Sixth Street and Cathedral Avenue
   Garden City,
     Long Island, New York, USA
   LL: N 40.72128, W 73.64204

   North tower
   Machinery Hall
   Centennial Exposition
   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Site locator map

*Player:

   (unknown)

   Frederick Widdows

*Contact:

   Cathedral of the Incarnation
   50 Cathedral Avenue
   Garden City, NY  11530-4436
   T: 516-746-2955
   - or -
   Cathedral Music Office
   T: 516-248-5704
   E: music@incarnationgc.org

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   U.S. Winner (Gold Medal) at Centennial
   Exposition, and the first chime made
   by McShane; added semitones flat 7th
   & sharp 4th; original chimestand had
   two full rows of manual levers (for
   loud and soft) plus full row of pedals,
   but the bells were also playable from
   the solo manual of a Roosevelt organ.
   Not known whether the Exposition chime-
   stand was installed here.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard chime of 13 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C F   /    ----  
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   There are two added semitones
   The present keyboard was installed in 1876
     by an unknown maker 
   Prior history:
     In 1876, the complete instrument of 13 bells was installed
       by McShane         
       Keyboard range was:     C F   /    C F   
   Auxiliary mechanisms: EnC   
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 1997

The cathedral Website has a small photo of the building in the left margin of the home page.  These once-famous bells are not mentioned anywhere now.  Formerly, there was also a Tour page with clickable versions of several more photos of the building.

Stereopticon photo of this chime on display at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, PA, in 1876

A photo of the building and its spired tower accompanies the report of a visitor.

The English Wikipedia article about the building

The connection of the chime to the organ was such a novelty in 1885 that it was mentioned in a newspaper article. In the Pipe Organ Database entry for the Roosevelt organ here, the chime action is mentioned as Op.70, the last of five installments. completed in 1883.  It is not yet known whether the chimestand used at the Centennial Exhibition was installed here, nor when the chimestand that was installed became defunct.  It has been reported (but not yet confirmed) that the entire cathedral was a memorial to Alexander Stewart, founder of Garden City.

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.

Why this chime was a milestone in North American chime history (1876).  Supposedly it was McShane's first; but Reading is dated 1875!

Index to all tower bell instruments in NY.

   This page was built from the database on 10-Mar-26
   based on textual data last updated on 2026/03/08
   and on technical data last updated on 2026/03/08