Bell Hill Academy's Bell
The tale of the Bell Hill Bell began in 1876 when the Board of Trustees allocated $170 in silver (with the community fundraising the rest) to commission the creation of the bell. The intention was to provide a uniform time schedule to the different schools in the area. The bell was cast at the Buckeye Bell Foundry in Cincinnati. Installed in 1877 in the belfry of the Second Intermediate School, it shook the walls of the school every time it rang.
In 1880, a portable belfry was built and in 1900 the bell was moved to Grant School on Winchester Hill to celebrate the opening of the district’s newest school. The bell was returned in 1906 to the new two-story Bell Hill School, where it remained until WWII. During World War II, the bell was moved to Washington School where it was used to warn of air raids and in 1947 it served as the city's fire alarm. The local Lions Club held a circus to raise funds to return the school bell to its original home in 1962, where it was permanently placed in a monument at the school's entry.
No longer needed, the Bell Hill Bell was stilled after tolling for nearly one hundred years; it now serves as a reminder of our school district's rich history.