(There will eventually be information/links here about the making of bells.)
These present-day bellfoundries have Websites (those with names in bold have exported significant numbers of tower bells to North America):
Elsewhere:
Foundries making small bells:
A list of European bellfoundries, with contact information
Other small bellfoundries are known to exist, but they tend to supply only their own local areas.
For the moment, we make no effort to list here any of the many bellfoundries which have operated in Europe in the past but have since ceased operations. Like most generalities, this statement does have its exceptions:
Cast steel bells were imported from England into New England by Naylor Vickers in North America.
More than 200 different bellfounders are known to have worked in the United States of America during the past two centuries. Some of the major centers of this industry, now almost vanished, were as follows (in order by state):
| If you have a question about any bellfoundry (whether mentioned in these pages or not), or if you have an unidentified bell and want assistance in discovering who made it, please send an inquiry. Include photographs if possible, preferably large and sharp. |
This city is home to the only historic American bellfoundry to have survived past the middle of the 20th century. McShane Bell Foundry was one of the three major American makers of chimes, besides producing thousands of single bells and peals of 2 to 4 bells. The GCNA Website has a list of McShane chimes, which includes an outline of the history of the foundry.
The first significant post-Revolutionary bellfoundry was established in 1792 in this city by the famous patriot Paul Revere. For further information, see the Revere foundry page here.
Various apprentices of Paul Revere were later involved in the establishment of at least two regionally important bell foundries. One was set up by George Holbrook; for further information, see the Holbrook foundry page here.
Another, begun by Henry Hooper, was one of the four minor American makers of chimes. The GCNA Website has a list of Hooper/Blake chimes, with an outline of the history of that foundry.
At least 34 different business enterprises are known to have made, sold or advertised bells in the city of St.Louis at various times during the last two-thirds of the 19th century, with a few of them lasting into the first half of the 20th century. One of them was large enough to compete with the major bellfoundries to the east, and was among the four minor American makers of chimes. The GCNA Website has a list of Stuckstede chimes, with an outline of the history of the two Stuckstede foundries.
For further information, see the Saint Louis Bell Foundries page here.
As the largest metropolitan area in the country, this was the home of a large number of different bellfoundries in the 18th and 19th centuries, though none of them lasted very long nor produced many bells.
These towns were the homes of two of the largest bellfoundries in America, operated by competing branches of the Meneely family. Both of those foundries were among the three major American makers of chimes. Another bellfoundry in Troy was among the four minor American makers of chimes. A few other bellfoundries were also located here from time to time. West Troy, originally named Gibbonsville, later was renamed Watervliet. The GCNA Website has lists of chimes by Jones (Troy), carillons and chimes by Meneely (Watervliet) and chimes by Meneely (Troy); each of those three pages includes a sketch of the foundry's history plus links to further information.
Several bellfoundries in Cincinnati, including two of the largest and longest-lived in the USA, made either bronze or iron bells. One of those, the Buckeye Bell Foundry (operated by Vanduzen), was among the four minor American makers of chimes; the GCNA Website has a list of Vanduzen chimes, including a brief sketch of the history of this foundry.
The largest of many American producers of iron or steel bells was probably the C.S.Bell Company, located in the town of Hillsboro, east of Cincinnati. Using a special cast steel alloy called "crystal metal," this firm produced bells of all sizes from 12" diameter postmount farm or dinner bells to 48" diameter church bells. These bells, unlike those made of bronze, do not carry any inscription (except possibly a size number on the top). Instead, the identification of the maker is found on the yoke from which the bell hangs.
The only modern bellfoundries in the USA are located in this area:
Little is known of the foundries that made bells in Mexico, Central and South America, or the Orient, though it is clear that some bells were cast in these places as well as being exported to them from Europe.
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This page was created 2002/09/02 and last revised 2008/02/19.
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