1932 Utica Centenial

A special election was held on October 2, 1851 when 417 votes were cast for the Pearl street site and 173 for the other. The city purchased the site for $6,500. To defray the total cost of the building of $66,000, the United States Congress appropriated $12,000 for a perpetual lease of one floor to house the United States Courts. This lease was abrogated when the Federal Building was built on Broad Street in the 1870s

.In 1852, Richard Upjohn was commissioned to design a suitable structure. Upjohn was recognized as one of the most talented, successful architects in the world. The New York City designer - who was born in 1802 in Shaftesbury, England ---had planned such notable structures as Trinity Church in New York and public buildings throughout the country. He also designed the new Grace Episcopal Church, which stands on the southeast corner of Genesee and Elizabeth streets in Utica. In 1857, Upjohn founded the prestigious American Institute of Architects.

Upjohn chose an Italian style, characterized by arched openings, low-hipped roof and vertically proportioned windows. At the corner, a tall campanile was placed, with small arched windows, and near the top of the tower were located four glass clock faces, surmounted with triple arched arcades, opening to the belfry. Cells were built in the basement of the tower for the detention of prisoners arrested by the constables. The first two floors were devoted to offices but the entire third floor was a large hall for public meetings, dances, receptions and church festivals. The cornerstone was laid September 27th, 1853.

circa 1960's

The builder was William Jones, born in Carnarvonshire, Wales on January 17, 1810. When he was eight years old, he went to work carrying mortar for his father who was a stone mason. There he learned the trade and came to America as a deckhand on a vessel from Liverpool to Philadelphia. He came to Utica in 1837 and after working at his trade for a few years, he went into business for himself in 1840. He constructed 120 of the stone and brick buildings in Utica during his career. In addition to the City Hall, he built Cotton Mills Nos. 1 and 2 on State Street, the Utica Female Seminary, the Bradish and Tibbitts blocks, the Butterfield Flats on Lafayette Street, as well as six churches — Reconciliation, St. Luke’s, First Methodist, Bethesda on Washington Street, Grace and Calvary Episcopal.  The city hall was ready for partial occupancy in 1854.

The original city clock was located in 1834 in the Bleecker Street Baptist Church on the corner of Charlotte Street. The official clock was partially illuminated on June 8, 1855. For more than a hundred years, this clock was a familiar land­mark and its bell not only announced peace and war, the passing of distinguished citizens, but until the telegraph alarm system was installed, announced the location of fires. The custodian would strike the bell the number of times which corresponded with the ward where the fire had occurred, to the total originally of seven. The bell was installed in 1854 and was cast by Jones & Hitchcock of Troy and weighed 4,000 pounds. It cost $1,400. During the Civil War, a crack developed in the bell and it had to be replaced. On May 15, 1862, a new bell was made by the same firm and installed and observers said that it had the weight and tone of the old bell.

The bell was on the top floor of the tower and was supported by a framework of heavy beams. Originally it had three strikers, one of which was for fires (later electrified). In later years the other two strikers only were used. One was a great sledge hammer which rose automatically from the framework outside the bell and struck the hours resoundingly if not always accurately. The other was a tongue inside the bell which was operated by a pumping handle three floors below. This was used to inform the citizens of important events. Two or three men were required to operate it if the tolling continued any length of time.

Tower awaiting the wrecking ball - 1968

The clock was made by Lefevre & Bear, locksmiths, New York City. It was hand wound; the jeweler in charge being obliged to visit the tower once a week to wind it. The winding was a 15 minute job, requiring no little strength on the part of the winder who had, by turning a crank, to lift two weights of about 500 pounds each, which furnished the power for the mechanism. One of the weights operated the striker, the other the clock itself. The pendulum was about four feet long and the ball at the bottom about a foot in diameter. The clock had two jewels, both of which were on the pallets, the parts of the clock subject to the most wear.

Space on the four floors of the tower was necessary for the operation of the clock. On the second floor were the main works, four feet high but simple in construction. Two cables passed from each side up thru holes in the floor above, where, in the center of the room, a small box set on a standard regulated the hands on all four sides. Each face had a box of its own connected by a wooden bar with the center box. The faces of the clock were made of ground glass painted with Roman numerals and were about six feet each in height. Later, at night, four electric lights illuminated the face.

The elegant Italian Renaissance building was Utica’s City Hall for 115 years. The yellow-brick structure was torn down in 1968 as part of an urban renewal project. Today, the site is occupied by the Radisson Hotel-Utica Centre. In early 1968, about 200 citizens began a drive to save the tower of the old City Hall from the wrecking ball, but later that year the building and tower were razed.