The Windham Historical Society intends to leave behind another piece of its history by funding a project with money from a state grant to have an 11×24 green street clock built and erected on Windham Town Hall’s lawn near the Gazebo at 9011 North Main Street.
“We are into the history of Windham, and we can add to the history and that is where all of the kids go to get their prom pictures, there are wedding receptions that come over and take all of their pictures there and it will fit in nicely I think,” WHS Founder/President Lynnea St. John told The Weekly Villager on Oct. 31.
According to St. John, the street clock is being built by The Verdin Company, a manufacturer, pioneer, and innovator of cast bronze bells, carillons, clocks, and towers that is based in Cincinnati. She said that no definite date has been determined on when the street clock will be delivered but the initial expectation is that the street clock will be assembled within a 45–100-day time frame and the earliest the community can expect it to be delivered is by Jan. 1, 2026.
“It goes to Cincinnati so once they get it, then they check with their schedule because it is not automatic,” she said. “It is not like a conveyer belt, they do it all by hand so depending on how many are in front of it, if any, and what their schedule looks like, they will start building it.”
St. John added that once the street clock arrives, the Windham Township Board of Trustees will have a foundation dug on the front lawn so they can run an electrical line underground that connects to Windham Town Hall. Once the foundation is properly formed, the Board will keep the street clock in storage until the winter is over and the weather is suitable to erect the clock.
Once the clock is properly erected, it will be owned by the Board, and they will be primarily responsible for the routine maintenance and upkeep of Windham’s newest attraction.
“They have proven over and over for generations that they are very accountable and very dependable,” St. John noted. “They are good people, and it is a good group.”
St. John acknowledged that minor repairs and maintenance that are not extremely costly may be funded by the WHS.
She said that the WHS received funding through a state grant of $28,000 that could be applied to local communities such as Windham. She said that she was inspired to purchase a street clock for the community based on some of her previous travels to Holiday Camplands in Andover and also trips through Chardon. Through her frequent visits to both, she said that she often noticed street clocks in both places and thought that they were nice features for those communities, and it would be a nice addition to Windham.
“That is the history of Windham, and we can add to the history,” she said. “Everything down there, it is a different generation. Somebody built a Gazebo, somebody put up the monument and these are different generations that have done this, and I was thinking ‘You know what? Let us see about getting one of those clocks.’”
In addition to the street clock, St. John added that the WHS has enough funds from the state grant for several more projects, but the street clock is the most expensive project that they are undertaking with the state grant funds.
The street clock will stand on a short pole and be double-sided, with the front and back each featuring a standard clock.
“It is going be lighted at nighttime. All of this stuff is automatic, and the light will come on in the evening and it will be facing north and south on Main Street in front of the Gazebo and you will be able to see it whichever direction you are going,” she said. “It will be right where it is very visible, and it will look good with the Gazebo behind it.”
