Many Thanks to all who supported our fundraising efforts for the 2 completed murals in the Hillsboro Historic District.
Mural artist Pamala Kellough went over 1,000 photos, images, news articles & other sources as well as conversations and stories about the company and the Bell family. Pam asked a ton of questions before submitting sketches.
Years of experience guided Pam to meet the goal of creating one C S Bell mural that communicated what the company was about and the other to communicate the success of, who made it happen, the three generations of the Charles Singleton Bell family.
The mural below is on the alley in the 100 block of West Main St.
Mural artist Pam Kellough brings to life just a few of the hundreds of products made by the company as well two critical steps in the foundry process.
The big bell shown in the mural, circa 1900, was for the Asian market. Note the square scallops on the crown of the bell. Large Iron bells made by C. S. Bell were in great demand in Asia for their low cost and high quantity. The 1880-1890s catalog ad represents the beginning of the golden years for the company. They were shipping out 20,000 twenty inch and larger bells per year.
Buoy Bells were prevalent in the Great Lakes and along the Eastern seaboard marking shoals and other dangers into the early 1920s. I was told of one coming out of Put-In-Bay back in the day. Does anyone remember? Has anyone seen or better yet have a photo of a buoy bell?
The U S Navy Bell, shown below is known as the Invasion Bell. It pays tribute to the third generation, Virginia Bell who lead the company through WWII.
Virginia and her management team won the contract and supplied thousands of cast iron bells to The U.S., British and our third major WWII ally, Russia.
Thousands more ships’ bells were sold to merchant mariners supporting the allied navies around the world.
The largest ships bell was 800lbs. Reverend Ignatius Lee blessed the bells before shipping out.
The number 2 dry grinder for the South American market was made by the thousands in the early 1900s. Equipped to be operated by hand, small engine, such as Hit N Miss, or an electric motor.
The early dry grinder goes back to the early 1860s. They helped families in North and South America transition from stone grinding to a mechanized gadget that never wore out.
Farm Bells were an important part of business from the very beginning. The advertisement shown below is another example of C. S. Bell bells sold without the Bell name on them. For over 160 years C S Bell bell shapes, sizes, diameters, and weights remain the same. We can’t say that for the prices.
The second C S Bell mural, shown below, is on The C. S. Bell Foundry and Showroom Building located at 160 West Main St.
The history of The C. S Bell Co. depicted in the mural, pays tribute to three generations of business savvy in the Bell family.
The Historic marker on the right validates the significance of Charles Singleton (C. S.) Bell’s 2nd foundry location where he created a process that allowed his company to dominate the big iron bell global market for over 100 years.
The body of the mural was inspired by the early 1880’s sales card paying tribute to C. E. Bell. Charles Elliott (C. E.) Bell, the second generation, was a marketing whiz who traveled the world and succeeded in setting up distribution channels in Asia, India, North and South America as well as with all the major catalog companies of the day.
In 1882 C. S. Bell made his son his partner and the company name was changed to C. S. Bell & Company
The Tennyson poem is a tribute to the third generation, Virginia Bell. Virginia gave up a career as an actress in New York City returning to Hillsboro to turn around around the ailing company. The Tennyson quote speaks volumes of Virginia’s take on the state of the world at that time.
Virginia was an artist first. Her artistic talents excelled in communications, design & imagination as can be seen in the 1933 Art Deco advertisement for a hammer mill.
Great business leaders over time have one thing in common, creating a vision that is clear, concise and compelling then creating an environment that attracts talented well meaning people to achieve the vision.
Virginia achieved all of this and much more with her team shown in the news article. And the telegram below is just one example of much deserved accolades.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this information.
Our objective is researching, documenting and sharing all things C S Bell and you can help.
Please post photos of brochures, bells, grinders, hammer mills, news articles and related C S Bell items and information to share for posterity.
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Thank you
