‘Lots of theories’: Halifax Harbour Bridges looks to solve mystery of 126-year-old bell

There’s an effort to uncover the history of a 126-year-old bell that has sat in Halifax Harbour Bridges storage for decades.

Halifax Harbour Bridges is attempting to solve a mystery.

A 126-year-old brass bell has sat in storage for decades and now there’s an effort to uncover its origins.

“It was cast in 1899, which is 18 years before the Halifax Explosion. It may have hung in a church or something like that, we’re not sure. We’ve been looking through our records and trying to find out where it where it came from,” said Steve Proctor, communications manager for Halifax Harbour Bridges.

In the 1950s, Proctor says the 250-pound bell was on the bridge and was used to sound a warning to boats passing underneath and then was basically forgotten about.

“Then six years ago, a maintenance crew was working on the bridge. They’ve seen it many times, so they said, ‘Let’s find out more about that,’” said Proctor.

“They tied a rope around it securely, pulled it up to the deck and said, ‘What is this bell about?’”

The maintenance crew believed the bell was an important piece of history and hoped it would become part of an exhibit. However, Proctor says other priorities came up and the bell has sat in a closet for five years.

“There’s lots of theories about the bell. I’m partial to the idea that perhaps it was out of one of the churches that were destroyed in the Halifax Explosion. The timeline is quite right. It’s a Meneely bell, there were lots of Meneely bells in churches in the north end,” said Proctor.

“I think it’s important to note that this is a really early bell in the history of Canada. If you think about it, Canada was only 30 years old when the bell was cast. Laurier was still the prime minister. So, if we could get a lead from where it was before it ended up on the bridges, that would add to the story of Halifax.”

Now, Halifax Harbour Bridges is reaching out to the public to see if the community can help them uncover the history of the bell. Anyone with information can email [e-mail].

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