List of carillons in the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carillons, musical instruments of bells in the percussion family, are found throughout the United States. Several institutions register and count them. Some registries specialize in counting specific types of carillons. For example, the War Memorial and Peace Carillons registry counts instruments that serve as war memorials or were built in the name of promoting world peace.[1] TowerBells counts carillons played via a baton keyboard as "traditional carillons" and those with computerized or electronic mechanisms as "non-traditional carillons", among other bell instruments. It also publishes maps, technical specifications, and summary statistics.[2] As the World Carillon Federation does not consider non-traditional carillons to be carillons, it counts only those played via a baton keyboard and without computerized or electronic mechanisms.[3] According to TowerBells and the World Carillon Federation, there are about 170 existing traditional carillons in the United States.

According to the World Carillon Federation [nl], the carillons in the United States account for 25 percent of the world's total[3] and is consequently considered one of the "great carillon countries" along with the Netherlands and Belgium.[4]

The World Carillon Federation [nl] defines a carillon as an instrument of at least 23 cast bronze bells hung in fixed suspension, played with a traditional keyboard of batons, and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniously together. It may designate instruments of 15 to 22 bells built before 1940 as "historical carillons".[5] Its member organizations  including for example The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America  also define a carillon with those restrictions.[6] This list contains only carillons that meet the definition outlined by these organizations.

Alabama

  • Birmingham:
    • Rushton Memorial Carillon at Samford University in the Harwell Goodwin Davis Library. 60 bells. Each inscribed with Biblical scripture or meaningful literary inscription.
    • First Presbyterian, 1924. 37 bells. Originally 25 from the John Taylor Bell Foundry in Loughborough, England. 12 added in 1967 from the van Bergen Bell Foundry.
  • Huntsville: First Baptist Church, 1990. 48 bells by The Verdin Company. Carillon housed in the world's tallest prefabricated steeple: 229 ft (70 m). Traditional keyboard + 2 non-traditional electronic consoles.
  • Tuscaloosa: Denny Chimes, a well-known landmark of the University of Alabama's campus. Houses 25 bells, which are played both manually and electronically.

Arizona

List of carillons in Arizona
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Saint Barnabas on the Desert Paradise Valley 25 N/a N/a
Up 8 semitones
Royal Eijsbouts 2006 [7]

California

The Carillon Bell tower dominates the University of California, Riverside's main campus.

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Century Tower. Gainesville, Florida

Illinois

Rees Memorial Carillon
Springfield, Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

  • Ames: Stanton Memorial Carillon in the Campanile at Iowa State University, 1899. 50 bells by Taylor, originally built with 10 bells in 1899, with 26 more added in 1920, another 13 in 1954, and one final bell in 1967. Renovated in 1994.[25]
  • Cedar Falls: University of Northern Iowa Carillon in the Campanile at the University of Northern Iowa, 1926. 56 bells. The carillon originally consisted of 15 bells in 1926 cast by the Meneely Bell Foundry, with 32 bells added in 1968 cast by Petit & Fritsen, and 9 additional bells in 2023 cast by The Verdin Company. The bell tower was renovated in 1984 and 2007.[26][27]
  • Des Moines: The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Paul | Des Moines,[28] Windsor Memorial Carillon. 25 bells in the Mary Belle Windsor Tower in downtown Des Moines. The 12 original bells were cast in 1896 by the McShane Foundry, Baltimore. Three additional bells were installed in 1989 and 10 more in 1991. These last 13 bells and the rebuild of the bell tower were a gift from the Windsor family, hence, the Windsor Memorial Carillon.[29]

Kansas

List of carillons in Kansas
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
University of Kansas Lawrence 53 13,4006,100 79,00036,000
Down 1 semitone
John Taylor & Co 1951 [30][31]

Kentucky

Louisiana

  • Morgan City: Carillon Tower at Brownell Memorial Park, dedicated 1971. 106 feet tall with 61 bells.[35]

Maryland

List of carillons in Maryland
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Joseph Dill Baker Memorial Carillon,
Baker Park
Frederick 49 N/a N/a
Up 4 semitones
[36]
N/a Tagart Memorial Chapel,
McDonogh School
Owings Mills 48 N/a N/a
Up 2 semitones
[37]
N/a Brown & Church Carillon,
Salisbury University
Salisbury 48 N/a N/a
None (concert pitch)
Meeks & Watson 2017 [38]

Massachusetts

  • Amherst: The Henry Vincent Couper Memorial Carillon at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It has 42 bells and spans 312 octaves. Bells cast by the Royal Eijsbouts Bell Foundry of Asten in the Netherlands.[39]
  • Cohasset: Erected in 1924 with 23 bells, known as The Bancroft Memorial Carillon. Located in a gothic stone tower in St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Expanded in 1925, 1928 and then renovated and enlarged to 57 bells between 1989 and 1990 by the John Taylor Bell Foundry. Lowest bell, note G, weighs 11,280 pounds while the smallest bell, note E, weighs 29 pounds.
  • Fall River: The Durfee Carillon Bell Tower at BMC Durfee High School, 23 bells, including 9 historic Meneely bells from the first Durfee High School 1880's
  • Gloucester: Our Lady of Good Voyage Church.
  • Medford: Goddard Chapel Carillon, Tufts University Chaplaincy.
  • Northampton: Dorothea Carlile Memorial Carillon, College Hall at Smith College, 47 bells ranging in weight from 24 to 2,800 pounds.
  • Northfield: McRoberts Memorial Carillon, Russell Sage Chapel at Northfield Campus, Northfield Mount Hermon School[40] This 55-bell carillon has now been relocated to the Rhodes Arts Center on the Mount Hermon campus in Mount Hermon, MA.[41]
  • Norwood: Norwood Memorial Municipal Building  50 bells, heaviest 3,556 kg (7,840 lb), Gillett & Johnston 1928/1935 and John Taylor & Co 1983[42]
  • Wellesley: Wellesley College Carillon at Wellesley College installed in 1931, renovated in 1984, last enlarged in 1990. 32 bells by Taylor.

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

List of carillons in Missouri
Location City Bells Range and
transposition
Bourdon weight Total weight Bellfounder(s) Notes Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Missouri State University
Duane G. Meyer Library
Springfield 48
None (concert pitch)
5,8942,673 32,00015,000 Royal Eijsbouts 2002 Jane A. Meyer Carillon
At 140 feet is the tallest freestanding carillon in the Midwest.[56]
[57][58]
N/a Luther Tower
Campus of Concordia Seminary
Clayton 49
None (concert pitch)
5,0002,300 N/a Van Bergen 1970 N/a [59][60]

Montana

List of carillons in Montana
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
University of Montana Missoula 47 N/a N/a
Up 5 semitones
Van Bergen 1953 [61]

Danforth Chapel, Montana State University, Bozeman MT. The carillon, a gift of Joseph Mares, class of 1924, plays every morning and evening and on special occasions such as commencement and presidential inaugurations.

Nebraska

List of carillons in Nebraska
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
First-Plymouth Congregational Church Lincoln 57 4,5922,083 N/a
Up 2 semitones
[62][63]
University of Nebraska Omaha Omaha 47 N/a N/a
None (concert pitch)
Paccard 1988 [64]

New Hampshire

List of carillons in New Hampshire
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
St. Paul's School Concord 23 N/a N/a
Up 5 semitones
Gillett & Johnston 1933 [65]

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Deeds Carrilon, Ohio
  • Cleveland: The Alexander McGaffin Carillon. Installed with 47 bells by Eijsbouts, June 1968. Expanded to 51 bells by Eijsbouts in June 2025. [75]
  • Cleveland Heights: St. Paul's Episcopal Church; Erected in 1928 with 8 bells by Gillett and Johnston, 15 bells by Van Bergen were added in 1952, making a carillon of 23 bells. Then, in 2023, an additional 24 bells by the B.A. Sunderlin bellfoundry were added, making a full concert carillon of 47 bells.
  • Dayton: Deeds Carillon, Carillon Historical Park, 1942. 57 bells by Petit & Fritsen. Refurbished in 1988 from an electronic to a traditional carillon.[76]
  • Mariemont: In Dogwood Park just off of Route 50, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Begun with 23 bells by Gillett and Johnston in 1929, then expanded to 49 bells in 1969 with bells by Petit and Fritsen.[77]
  • Oxford: The Pulley Bell Tower at Miami University, constructed 2001. 50 bells designed and installed by The Verdin Company, cast by Petit & Fritsen.

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

  • Charleston: The Carillon and Thomas Dry Howie Tower at The Citadel has 59 bells weighing from 25 to 4,400 pounds and a total of 25,000 pounds, and were originally cast in 1795 at the Bergen Bell foundry in the Netherlands. Installed in 1954, as of 2022 only 18 bells are playable.[83]
  • Clemson: The Clemson University Memorial Carillon. 48 handcrafted bells, located in the tower of Tillman Hall at Clemson University.
  • Greenville: The Riverplace Bell Tower and Carillon. 25 bells were placed within 3 steel columns, the tallest at 54 feet. The open structure of the tower was designed to view the river and cityscape nearby, under the tower is a continuously flowing water feature. The tower was installed in 2012 and dedicated to C. Thomas Wyche "Tommy" on August 23, 2012. Wyche was chosen for his love of music and lifelong support of the city's arts, land preservation, and future development.[84]
  • Greenwood: The Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church Carillon. 37 bells in a 3-octave scale. Bells cast by the Van Bergen Bellfoundries, Heiligerlee, Netherlands. Restored in the 1990s over a one-year period by L. Eckert, a then employee of the foundry's US Office[85] based in Charleston, SC.

Tennessee

Linnie M. Barger Carillon on the campus of St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church, Ooltewah, Tennessee.

Texas

Utah

Vermont

List of carillons in Vermont
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Middlebury Chapel,
Middlebury College
Middlebury 48 N/a N/a
Up 4 semitones
[96][97]
N/a Adams Tower,
Norwich University
Northfield 47 1,200540 N/a
Up 3 semitones
[98][99]
Ira Allen Chapel,
University of Vermont
Burlington N/a N/a
Nearly 4 octaves comprising 40 pitched tuning rods
[100]

Virginia

Washington (state)

List of carillons in Washington (state)
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
N/a Kane Hall,
University of Washington
Seattle 47 N/a N/a
Up 7 semitones
Royal Eijsbouts 2017 [102][103]
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Spokane 49 N/a N/a
None (concert pitch)
John Taylor & Co 1968 [104]

Washington, D.C.

West Virginia

List of carillons in West Virginia
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Concord University Athens 48 N/a N/a
None (concert pitch)
Paccard 1997 [108]

Wisconsin

See also

References

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