Workers install restored Clayton County Courthouse clock

ELKADER - After four months, a prominent feature has returned to the downtown area of the Clayton County seat.

In August, workers removed the 117-year-old clock from the county courthouse to begin a $50,000 renovation.

On Wednesday, the restored clock was disassembled and put back together in its usual place.

'It's undergone 100% conservation ... it's been put back to the way it would've left the factory in 1896,” said Minneapolis resident Rory DeMesy, who worked on the restoration. '[The clock] is called a model number 2E, Howard and Company time and strick tower clock. It ties to a bell up in the tower and is hit by about a sixty-pound hammer.”

A crowd gathered to see the clock before it went up into the tower.

'All of the townspeople have come out today to see it ... it will be a once in a lifetime chance to see the clock before it's put up in the tower,” said Ellen Collins with the Historic Preservation Commission. 'The clock and tower are a symbol for the county.”

'I'm always looking up at the courthouse to see what time it is ... it's just my habit. I'm not stop looking, even though I know the clock is not there, so this is a very exciting day for us to have the clock coming back,” said Sue Meyer.

The clock will begin its hourly chiming on Thursday.

The next phase of restoration involves the four clock faces and repairs to the clock tower roof.