Trinity’s Heritage

530 N Guilford Street | Huntington, Indiana

Huntington Trinity United Methodist Church has been in Huntington since 1846 with three different buildings and some different locations.

The first building was located on Park Drive at Poplar Street. There were two churches (Huntington and Andrews) belonging to the circuit.

A circuit is a grouping of 2 or more Societies, under a Superintendent Minister and with other Ministers according to the number of members. Circuits are usually named after town or village of the society that is the Head of Circuit, or after the general area.

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The Bell Tower

Historical Highlights | Tower Chimes

The tower chimes are the oldest part of Trinity Church serving the Lord and the city of Huntington since 1915.

Our present building was designed with a tower, so bells could be purchased at a later date. Secretly, Mrs. E.T. Taylor ordered them and presented the gift to the congregation during the 1914 Christmas service. Cast by the Meneely Bell Company, Troy, N.Y., the first order was for an octave of 8 bells, but an additional 3 bells were added to complete an eleven chime set which tripled the range of music selection.

The installation was completed for the February 14, 1915 dedication. After they were first played, Mrs. Taylor was disappointed because she could not hear the bells from her home on the hill on Jefferson Street at E. Tipton. With the consent of the church trustees, Mrs. Taylor arranged to have the bells taken down for an addition to raise the height of the tower. In late September, 1915, the bells were lined along the front sidewalk of the Church while contractors added another room some fifteen feet high to the tower. Today you can see the heavy beams mounted with the bells thru the large openings on all sides of the upper most tower.

The bells were first played in the third floor tower room where a sturdy wood frame called a Chime Stand held a row of wooden lever handles – one for each bell – attachment to straps, long wood ropes and chains that went all the way up and over pulleys to the bells. When you pushed down HARD on the handle, the clapper struck the bell producing a ‘bong’.

The bells range in size from 22 inches in height up to the large 4 foot one ton swinger bell with a six foot wheel for the rope. Striker arms are located in each bell. By disconnecting the chime and tolling strikers from the big bell, the bell ringer could rope ring it like any other church or school bell. It took two high school youth to get it swinging and would often lift a 150 # person about two feet off of the floor. Our big bell was joyfully run on V-E and V-J day (Victory in Europe and Japan days in Word War II) in 1945. Soon after, however, the rope was removed and the bell made rigid because of the vibration to the tower structure. The Chimes consist of eleven bells, the total weight is 8,379 pounds, distributed as follows: F,2080; G,1535; A,1042; B-flat,800; B,713; C,538; D,432; E-flat,372; F,275; and G,263#.

In 1956 the chimes are electrified and the bells were played from a small keyboard console. In later years the fuses, relays, and solenoids in the electronics caused numerous problems. Someone would have to climb the two tall ladders, open heavy trap doors and walk across rafters in all kinds of weather to replace the fuses or make needed repairs to the electrical box.

In May, 1996, a state of the art electronic system was installed by the Verdin Company of Cincinnati, the keyboard and master clock control computer (for the hourly Westminster) located in the sound booth. The large circuit control panel and master power control was relocated to the third floor of the tower. Inscribed on the big bells are the words: “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”