Port Angeles Liberty Bell to ring out on Fourth

Published 1:30 am Friday, July 3, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Residents on the Fourth of July will get the chance to do something few other Americans can: ring a reproduction of the Liberty Bell — a connection to a piece of the nation’s history that Port Angeles has kept since the Bicentennial 50 years ago.

On Thursday, members of the Port Angeles Lions Club were at Veterans Memorial Park, checking to make sure the area around the bell was clean and pressure washing the roof of the open-air pavilion, eaves and brickwork in preparation for Saturday’s event.

Port Angeles’ 2,080-pound copper-and-tin bell was cast by London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry — the same foundry that cast the original Liberty Bell in 1752 — using the same measurements as the original.

Unlike its famous counterpart in Philadelphia, which is famously cracked, the Port Angeles bell has no flaws — in all other respects it’s a faithful copy.

Port Angeles Lions Club chairman Bill Smith and local Bicentennial Committee chairman Leo White spearheaded the ambitious, grassroots effort to secure one of only 100 U.S. Liberty Bell replicas in October 1975.

What followed wasn’t without drama: eight months of community fundraising chasing a price tag that continued to climb, a shipping crisis and a bell that arrived without the parts needed to ring it.

The Lions Club made the initial $2,000 deposit to secure the order. The Lions and Bicentennial Committee then had to raise half the estimated $12,000 cost or forfeit the bell — and their money.

“We had 60 days to come up with $6,000,” said Gary Reidel, who along with Scooter Chapman and Chris Zook are the remaining Lions from that group. “We had to pay it all off before they would ship it.”

Bringing the symbol of American Independence — even if just a copy — to Port Angeles was a community-wide effort. Businesses, individuals and community organizations donated to the cause. Lincoln School students held an aluminum can recycling drive. KONP and KAPY sponsored a radiothon. The Masonic Temple hosted a 13-bout boxing benefit card. The City of Port Angeles pitched in too, funding construction of a 33-foot-tall log bell tower [since removed] and the labor to build the bell’s housing.

Fundraising intensified as the cost of the project increased to $15,000 and then to $16,000.

In March 1976, organizers were about $2,000 shy of that amount. A month later they were still $1,000 short.

Just as they had finally reached their goal in May, word came that Whitechapel Bell Foundry was nine weeks behind schedule after the British government’s own order for a 5-ton bell pushed Port Angeles’ bell to the back of the line.

That left organizers with a choice: ship the Liberty Bell by air guaranteeing its timely arrival, or by sea via the Panama Canal, which was cheaper but risked missing the July 4th deadline.

“The Bicentennial Committee picked up the $550 to fly it to Seattle,” Reidel said.

To everyone’s relief, the bell arrived in Port Angeles on July 1 — though it was missing the frame, headstock and wheel mechanism needed for it to swing. City crews hastily built a temporary wooden crosspiece as a workaround.

It rang out for the first time, on schedule, at 11 a.m. on July 4, 1976 — coordinated with bell-ringing celebrations across the country.

Then, silence for 90 minutes.

“July 4 was on a Sunday that year, so the churches asked us not to ring it during services,” Reidel said, adding, “It can be heard for eight miles.”

The ringing resumed at 12:30 p.m. and for the next three hours an estimated 3,000 people took their turn at the bell.

The Lions Club on Saturday will hand out miniature American flags and stickers that say, “I rang the bell,” to everyone who pulls on the rope attached to the Liberty Bell’s clapper — echoing not just the local event of 50 years ago, but commemorating the country’s 250th anniversary.

“We should enjoy this heritage we have,” said Lions Club member Larry Buckley. “It’s the kind of thing we need to celebrate.”

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.