Historic Memphis Street Clock Marks Time Again After 139-Year Journey

For more than half a century, an ornate street clock stood along the Memphis public square, silently keeping time as generations of residents shopped, worked, visited and watched their community change.

The clock survived changing businesses, Missouri winters and an encounter with a city road maintainer. It later traveled to New Mexico, Florida and Pennsylvania. Now, nearly 60 years after leaving Memphis, the towering timepiece has been restored and returned to public display.

Known today as “Quincy,” the nearly 19-foot-tall Ansonia street clock is scheduled to be dedicated Saturday, July 25, at the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Its journey began in Quincy, Illinois, in 1887, when jewelers Oscar Heinze and Joseph Rosenthal purchased the two-dial clock from the Ansonia Clock Co. and installed it outside their store at Fifth and Maine streets. The clock passed to several successive Quincy jewelry businesses before becoming the property of Odell Jewelers.

The clock’s connection to Memphis began around 1918.

W.B. McLane had established the McLane Jewelry Store in Memphis after purchasing the Kinney & Currey Jewelry Store in 1901. McLane and other business partners later renovated property on the south side of the square for an expanded jewelry store and other businesses.

Around 1918, McLane purchased the Ansonia clock from Odell Jewelers. It was shipped from Quincy to Memphis and erected in front of McLane’s store. A photograph taken in 1920 shows the clock standing prominently along the south side of the square, rising above pedestrians and the storefronts behind it.

The clock became more than an advertisement for a jewelry store. It was a familiar downtown landmark and a practical public timepiece during an era when few people carried anything more accurate than a pocket watch.

In 1947, Harry Laird purchased McLane Jewelry Store, renamed it Laird’s Jewelry and took possession of the clock.

Ten years later, the longtime landmark experienced one of the most dramatic moments in its history.

In March 1957, a city road maintainer removing heavy snow from the Memphis square struck and knocked down the clock. Its cast-iron frame was broken, and photographs showed the once-towering landmark lying amid piles of snow and debris.

The damaged frame was sent to a welding shop in Keokuk, Iowa, for repairs. After several years away from its familiar location, the clock was reinstalled in front of Laird’s Jewelry in May 1961.

An advertisement announcing the clock’s return gave the landmark a voice of its own.

“Hello! My name is Clock,” the advertisement proclaimed, explaining that it had been “in the hospital” after its accident but was back home in front of Laird’s to provide the correct time, day or night.

The clock remained in Memphis until 1969, when Laird advertised it for sale. Charles Bottom, a private clock collector from Los Alamos, New Mexico, purchased it and erected it in his backyard.

In 1980, clock dealer Stan Good purchased the timepiece and moved it to his clock shop in Tampa, Florida. Florida’s humidity made the clock difficult to keep running, leading Good to nickname it “Cantankerous Quincy.”

After Good’s death in October 2013, the clock was sold to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. It was dismantled and transported to the organization’s headquarters in Columbia in January 2014. Its nickname was eventually shortened to simply “Quincy.”

Restoration work began on the clock’s movement, distribution gearing, cast-iron case and decorative elements. Parts of the clock were cleaned, painted and covered with gold leaf.

Finding a permanent home for the clock proved difficult. Museum officials considered displaying it outside, but its wooden clock faces are not protected by glass and could have quickly deteriorated from moisture. The project stalled until renewed interest led to plans for a special indoor gallery.

Because the clock stands more than 18½ feet tall, workers had to cut into the museum’s concrete floor and create a recessed foundation. The lower foundation allowed the complete clock, including its elaborate crest, to fit beneath the building’s ceiling.

Twenty-three members of the Tower and Street Clock Chapter, museum staff members and local volunteers gathered April 21-26 to complete the restoration and installation. Much of the week was spent carefully applying gold leaf to the clock’s detailed cast-iron decorations.

On April 25, volunteers moved the clock into its new gallery and used a gantry crane to position its base and column over the recessed foundation. The head, crest, clock faces, hands, banners and gearing were then carefully lifted and attached.

At 4:30 p.m., the final pieces were in place. For the first time in more than 12 years, the historic clock that once watched over the Memphis square was standing again.

The restored clock’s face bears the names of Heinze and Rosenthal, the Quincy jewelers who first installed it in 1887. Its story, however, also belongs to Memphis, where it spent approximately 51 years and became part of the community’s downtown landscape.

The dedication ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, July 25, at the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Do you remember the Memphis clock?

The Memphis Democrat is seeking photographs, stories and personal memories of the historic clock during its years on the Memphis square.

Did your family use the clock as a meeting place? Do you remember seeing it outside McLane’s or Laird’s Jewelry? Were you in Memphis when it was knocked down during the 1957 snowstorm, returned in 1961 or sold in 1969?

Readers are encouraged to share photographs, newspaper clippings or written memories with the Memphis Democrat. Please include the names of anyone pictured, an approximate date and as much information as possible so those memories can become part of the clock’s continuing story. Email us at news@ memphisdemocrat.com, and we will forward all the information we receive to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania.