As we walk along the Daytona Beach’s Boardwalk admiring the beach, we have a few other things thiat capture our attention
I never stop marveling at the intense blues that you find along the beach, isn’t the contrast with the image above breath-taking??
The Daytona Beach Hilton just happens to sit in front of one of the most recognizable figures on Daytona Beach, our Coquina Clock Tower !! The Coquina Clock Tower was added to the National Registry of historic places in 1999. The Clock Tower project was started in 1936 as part of a WPA work project. The Clock Tower and the BandShell were both constructed from the same grant and funded for 236,000 in 1936. The Clock Tower was dedicated on July 4th, 1938.
The Clock Tower was renamed in 1989 in honor of Sir Malcolm Campbell, the symbolic landmark now carries the name of ” Campbell Clock Tower”.
One of the most distinctive things about the clock tower is the each of the 4 transparent dials features:: D-A-Y-T-O-N-A-B-E-A-C-H instead of the 1-12 of a regular clock. The 4 sided clock was built of coquina and has an highly ornate base with a small fountain that runs under the clock mechanism. The clock was a Seth Thomas timepiece and was operated thru a system of ropes and pulleys.
By the 1980s the 4 clocks had been converted to electric power from the old pulley system, but birds and the ocean air took their toll on the old clock tower and it became out of sync and stopped working. An antique clock expert, Jack Smith took up the project of getting the Daytona Beach Clock Tower once again operational. Jack Smith cleaned the clockworks and got the clock operational. The parts and materials cost less than $100 in 1989 and the Clock Tower’s 52nd anniversary rededication ceremony went off without a hitch.
In January 2008 the Clock Tower was agian suffering from corrsion and exposure. During this refurbishment the old hands were sawn off and replaced, the electric clockworks were replaced and the 4 sided clock was once again synced together. The new dials and motors were restarted on March 21st, 2008 and I am pleased to say that at the funding is in place for future repairs to keep the clock in good working order.
For additional information please head over to this link to get the clock tower story.
http://www.nawcc154-daytonabeach.com/clock_tower_story.htm
Just letting you know that I placed a link from http://www.coquinarock.com/uses.php to your blog because you have some nice images of the Daytona Clock Tower on your website.
THANK YOU for the clock-tower history and picture! I’m with Five Star Pedicab, and it’ll be good to have this historic information to share with our passengers 🙂 The clock tower is a major photo stop.
Hmm – your clock tower looks exactly like it did in 1941 – only with a new high-rise hotel in front of it now! Wasn’t the Florida coastline supposed to have been under water after (almost) 75 years???