Jessop's Clock
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Jessop's Clock is a large outdoor pendulum clock in San Diego, California, United States. It was commissioned in 1905 by one of the city's noted jewelers, Joseph Jessop.
The clock has been a San Diego icon for more than 100 years and is designated landmark #372 on the city's list of historic landmarks.[1] For generations of San Diegans, the clock served as both a commercial beacon for the Jessop family's jewelry store and a symbol of continuity in a rapidly changing city.
Joseph E. Jessop was a British watchmaker and jewelry store owner from Lytham, near Blackpool, who relocated to San Diego in 1890 with his wife Mary and seven children. Suffering from serious asthma, he sought dry-weather relief and considered New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa before selecting Southern California.[2][3]
Upon arrival, Jessop initially worked for K.C. Naylor, one of the major downtown jewelers at the time, while his sons did farm labor for E.W. Scripps at Miramar Ranch. To supplement his income, Jessop did freelance work, rowing out to ships anchored in the harbor to check their chronometers--the extremely precise timekeepers sailors used as navigational tools.[2]
Within a few years, Jessop had saved enough to open his own downtown jewelry store. He commissioned his famous clock in 1905, which was built by his employee Claude D. Ledger after fifteen months of work. It won a gold medal at the 1907 Sacramento State Fair.[4]
