Evolving Tower

The present Old Main building on Penn State’s main campus opened in 1930. It replaced the original building on campus, which was first occupied in 1859 (but not completed until 1863) when the institution was a newly founded agricultural college. The original building was an all-in-one structure in its early years - classrooms, laboratories, library, offices, chapel, faculty and student residential space. It was raised in 1929 after renovation was judged to be impractical. Limestone from the original building (quarried on sight in the mid-1850s) was re-used, as were the tower bell and clock. The bell was cast in 1871 and installed sometime after that in the building’s rather plain and unimposing tower that extended above the 5th floor and roof. That plain tower was replaced in 1904 with a more ornate one that included a clock gifted by the Class of 1904. The bell rang out across campus and State College marking the time, as well as other events, until 1929. When bell and clock were transferred to the new building, chimes were added to the clock. In 2009, the bell was removed, refurbished and placed on display just to the west of the building as the class of 2009’s gift to the university. Two years later the clock was remove, the four faces refurbished and a new mechanism with digital chimes added. The new chimes mark the hour and quarter hours with segments of the Alma Mater, ”Fight on State,” or "Hail to the Lion." The hour is tolled by an accurate recordings of the original bell. Periodically other sounds, such as the Nittany Lion’s roar are heard. [The above information is based searches of http://news.psu.edu/story/ where photos of the original building also can be found.]