© 2024
Local NPR for the Cape, Coast & Islands 90.1 91.1 94.3
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Every weekday morning CAI brings you coverage of local issues, news, and stories that matter. Join us for Morning Edition from 6 a.m. to 9a.m., with Kathryn Eident.

Bell Cast By Paul Revere Looks for New South Coast Home

Wikimedia Commons

Preservationists in Fairhaven are looking for a new spot to display a bell made by Revolutionary war hero Paul Revere.

The bell dates back to 1796 and was first commissioned for the Congregational Church back when Fairhaven was part of New Bedford. Later, the bell tolled as part of the Oxford School.

The bell sounded one last time at the school last weekend, before preservationists took it down. The town is selling the building.

Bell Committee chair Doug Brady said it took some research to verify that the bell was indeed made by Paul Revere.

"We have the copies of his original letters and they say, 'The bell was written by my hand, Paul Revere," he said. "They go back to the late 1700s."

Brady said Revere made just 12 bells in his career, and the Fairhaven bell is the oldest. He said they are working to find a new public spot to display the bell.

"It's a national treasure, it's a national artifact, and it happens to be our treasure," he said.

Brady said he hopes to also display the documents he found that show the bell was made by Paul Revere.