Bell at Courthouse will be rung at noon on Tuesday for County Bicentennial

Photo from Orleans County Department of History: The bell in the County Courthouse was installed in 1860.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 14

ALBION – Listen for the peal of the Courthouse Bell in Albion at noon on Tuesday April 15, 2025!

The bell will ring for one minute on that date, in celebration of the Orleans County Bicentennial. Churches throughout the county are encouraged to ring their bells also.

Albion’s Courthouse bell was installed in the dome in 1860, two years after the construction of the building. The cost of hanging it was $24.06. At one time it was used regularly to indicate when the Court was called to session.

It was rung on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, by some boys who had gained access to the belfry, on January 19, 1959, to celebrate the Courthouse Centennial and again in 1976 for the country’s Bicentennial celebration.

According to a File Feature reference in the Journal-Register newspaper, the bell was next rung on August 20, 1985, by David Stevenson, an employee of the County’s Buildings and Grounds Dept. who had joked that he would ring the bell if his first grandchild was born on his birthday.

The ringing of the bell at noon on Tuesday, April 15 will mark the beginning of the Bicentennial event to mark the 200th anniversary of the formation of Orleans County on April 15, 1825.

The event will take place in the Courthouse, a fitting location, long recognized as “a central focus for the citizens of Orleans County,” to quote Irene Gibson, author of Historic Sites in Orleans County, New York. Hon. Sanford A. Church will launch the event which will feature Proclamations and remarks by legislators and historians, followed by cake, of course.

Seating is still available. Descendants of the early settlers are encouraged to attend. The event may be viewed remotely on the Orleans County Tourism Facebook page (click here).