Clock Tower (Rome, Georgia)

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Rome Clock Tower
Clock Tower, Rome, GA, US.jpg
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LocationOff GA 101, Rome, Georgia
Coordinates 34°15′13″N85°10′9″W / 34.25361°N 85.16917°W / 34.25361; -85.16917 Coordinates: 34°15′13″N85°10′9″W / 34.25361°N 85.16917°W / 34.25361; -85.16917
Arealess than one acre
Built1871
ArchitectJohn W. Noble, Noble Bros.
NRHP reference No. 80001068 [1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 8, 1980

The Clock Tower in Rome, Georgia is one of the oldest landmarks in the city. The Clock Tower is located at the summit of Clock Tower Hill (also known as Neely Hill) [2] one of the Seven Hills of Rome. [3] [4]

Contents

History

The clock tower was built in 1871 under the direction of James Noble, Jr. and his family. It was originally built to hold the 250,000 gallons of water that would serve the city. Sheets of iron 10 feet long were used to build the frame of the tank, and red bricks surround it. The tank itself stood 63 feet tall and 26 feet wide. Atop the water tank, there is a bell and four clock faces located within a structure that stands 41 feet tall. Both the clock and bell were added in 1872, just one year after the original tower was built. The clocks were made by E. Howard Clock Company. Each face is nine feet in diameter, the hour hand is three feet, six inches long, and the minute hand is four feet, three inches long. The bell within the clock tower is made of genuine bronze and measures 40 inches wide. Engraved on the rim is the date 1872. With the addition of the clocks and bell the clock tower now stands 104 feet tall and can be seen from almost any part of downtown Rome. By the 1890s the tower could no longer support the city's water needs, and ceased to operate as a water tower. After the closing of the tower, it began to fall into a state of mild disrepair. It stayed in that state throughout the 20th Century.

Recently

The Rome Jaycees raised over $80,000 in 1986 in order to provide landscaping on top of Neely Hill around the clock tower. The historical clock tower is now a museum, which opened in 1995, once again with the help of the Rome Jaycees. The inside of the water tank now displays works of art by local artist Chuck Smultz. Also inside are the 107 steps spiraling around the tower to the top.

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Mahimangad Fort, in Man lies within the village limits of Mahimangad villege about five and a half miles west of Dahivadi. The easiest way to it is by the Satara-Pandharpur road to a point about half a mile west of the pass descending into the lower parts of the Man taluka. From this point a broad track branches off northwards to the fort which lies not more than half a mile from the road. There are three hamlets close on the north of the fort which towers about 250 feet above them. It consists of a flat nearly triangular table land with the apex to the east surmounting a perpendicular scarp of black trap below which are steep slopes of short grass with a little soil. The sides are overgrown in places with prickly pear especially on the north-west corner. The ascent should be made from the second hamlet which will be encountered on approaching the Pandharpur road from the north-west. A path about five feet wide with rude steps at intervals of almost every yard takes to the fort. A steep walk of about five minutes leads up to the gateway, the immediate approach to which is in places almost blocked by prickly pear. The path which leads up the side in a south-east direction here takes a turn at nearly right angles to the south-west. But before entering, the visitor will probably go some fifteen yards further to see a small tank cut in the rock, the site of an excellent spring always full of water and furnishing the neighbouring hamlets with their hot weather supply. The gateway has been cut in the scarp about thirty feet below the summit. The passage cut is about six feet wide but the gateway narrows to about five feet. It consisted as usual of a single pointed arch about seven feet high of well cut masonry the top of which has fallen in. Inside are twenty-two rock-cut steps which wind through a right angle and lead to the top facing east. The inner side of the curve is as usual protected and the way up the steps proportionately narrowed by a curtain of solid masonry. On emerging on the top and proceeding east along the north face of the fort on right hand is a small hillock on which stood the office now in ruins. A little further on is a water tank thirty feet square, originally built of well cut masonry, but now a great deal fallen in. Near it are two small tanks lined with cement for the storage either of grain or water, and to the south of these is a large pit roughly hewn out of the rock, perhaps intended for prisoners as in Varugad. About fifty yards further east is a turret of considerable size the masonry of which is solid and on which a gun was planted. This turret stretches right across the fort but underneath it on the southern side is an archway about four feet high by two broad. But creeping through it is reached the eastern end which tapers off nearly to a point. The fort is about a hundred yards long by forty wide. The walls are about five or six feet high and the masonry, except the top layer, is in fair preservation. At the east end is one, and at the west end are two bastions at the north-west and south-west angles. Originally all three were crowned with guns and there are still remains of parapets on them. On the east bastion is a small stone placed erect for a ling and worshipped as the image of the god Jajarnath Mahadev. A small fair is held in honour of the god and the existence of this shrine explains how the path up to the fort is in good order. There is also a ruined building of loose stones near the south-west bastion in honour of some Muhammedan saint or pir.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Clock Tower Rome, Georgia. aboutnorthgeorgia.com
  3. Wilson, CC. The Seven Hills of Rome. RomeGeorgia.com. 23 February 2002. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  4. Denmon, Shirley. The Enchanted Land Eighth Hill. (2012). pp. 5. ISBN   9781452089553