PORT TOWNSEND — There’s plenty of history in the West Coast’s third oldest fire department.
The bell that sits in the driveway of Port Townsend volunteer firefighter Pete Langley is just one example.
Langley and his wife, Cathy — also a volunteer — own Port Townsend Foundry off Cape George Road.
With his talent for working metal, Langley is donating his time to restore the 112-year-old bronze bell.
It was removed from the bell tower at the intersection of Jefferson and Tyler streets last month as part of a $300,000 overhaul of the historical town bell tower initiated by the Jefferson County Historical Society.
In its heyday, the number of clangs of the bell informed the town’s firefighters where a fire was located on a sort-of code.
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The rest of the story appears in the Friday/Saturday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE, above, to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.