The Tower Bell Has Found a New Home
The original Tower Bell, previously housed at McLachlin Park beside the Arnprior Public Library, has found a new home with the Arnprior Fire Department. The bell now stands as a fitting tribute to its original purpose: sounding an alarm for firefighters.
The wording on the monument reads:
This monument is dedicated to all firefighters past, present and future for their dedication to protecting this community. This cast-iron bell, originally located in a tower at Arnprior’s Town Hall, built circa 1888, was sounded to alert volunteer firefighters of the day to respond to fire emergencies. Though this bell no longer sounds, firefighters continue to rush to its current location to respond to emergencies within this community.
The bell once rested in a tower above Town Hall, which housed the Fire Department, then known as the Victoria Hook and Ladder Company. The Bell was rung by pulling a wire to warn the community of a fire. At the time, the Town was divided into 4 wards. After the initial steady ringing of the bell to signal a fire, the bell was rung the number of times again to identify which ward, from one through four, the fire was in. This method of communicating fire emergencies within the Town was used until 1960, when it was replaced with an air raid siren and later with telephone, followed by over-the-air radio frequency paging, which is still used today alongside cellular communication and an app.