NEW BERN, NC - May 9, 2011
"Saving Time" this Saturday at Tryon Palace celebrates the 100th birthday of New Bern's original town clock, now housed at Tryon Palace in the North Carolina History Center's Mattocks Hall. This special day honors the volunteers who worked many hours to bring New Bern's historic town clock back to life. The celebration, which includes fun for the whole family, runs all day long this Saturday, May 14th, from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
A time-themed celebration, "Saving Time" features films, craft activities and a clocks-through-time scavenger hunt. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore how generations of girls in one family marked the passage of time by preserving cherished mementoes in an antique sewing box on special display. There will be free kids' craft activities in Mattocks Hall from 10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., where visitors can make a sun dial and a time capsule. The craft activities, sewing box display and films are free and the scavenger hunt is included with regular admission.
Above the grand entrance to the North Carolina History Center is the 1910 clock from New Bern's City
Hall. In this installation the pendulum and clockworks are exposed for all to see. For almost 100 years, the clock welcomed visitors to New Bern, with its large clock face and the regular tolling if its bell, the town clock was a primary means of keeping local citizens on time. The clock was manufactured by the Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomasville, Connecticut, and installed in New Bern in 1911. In 2000, the historic New Bern town clock was taken out of service due to ongoing maintenance problems and was replaced by an electric digital system, which now controls the clock face and bell at City Hall. In 2007, a group of citizens joined together to preserve the original clock. Mostly retirees, they met every Saturday to clean the mechanism, fabricate damaged parts, reassemble the clock, and put it in working order. Their efforts drew attention to the importance of the clock, guiding the lives of New Bernians for a third of the city's history. The clock was donated by the City of New Bern to the Tryon Palace Commission and was installed in its location in time for the grand opening of the North Carolina History Center in October 2010.
For more information, contact Karen Ipock at 252-639-3581.
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Tryon Palace, located in New Bern, NC, is part of the Office of Archives and History, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Tryon Palace is one of North Carolina's most significant historic sites. It is the home of the Governor's Palace, North Carolina's first colonial and first state capitol, and includes historic buildings, gardens and the North Carolina History Center, which revolutionizes the visitor experience through use of the latest interactive technology. The History Center includes galleries, a performance hall, the museum store and a waterfront café. Tryon Palace's mission is to engage present and future generations in the history of North Carolina from early settlement in 1710, the development of statehood and into the mid-twentieth century. It is dedicated to collecting, interpreting and preserving objects, buildings, landscapes and events that enrich understanding of the making of our state and nation.
Main entry to Tryon Palace is North Carolina History Center at Tryon Palace, 529 S. Front St., New Bern. Tickets and visitor information are available there. Visitor information is also available at the Tryon Palace Way Station, corner of George and Pollock streets in New Bern. For directions and further information about special events, programs or group tours, employment and more, visit our web site: www.tryonpalace.org or phone (800) 767-1560 or (252) 639-3500.
