The majestic Tarrant County Courthouse clock tower is set to undergo a multi-million dollar restoration starting this summer, and those efforts may include the possibility of the 115 year-old clock to go digital, ultimately making analog fans throughout the region cry Blasphemy! Recently, downtownfortworth.com was invited into the depths of the tower to witness the biannual  ritual of changing the clock the old fashioned way: By hand.This Spring, we accompanied Steve Weatherly of Weatherly Clocks on his voyage up the clock tower to bump up the official courthouse time by an hour.  Once inside the courthouse’s attic on the way towards the series of rickety staircases and ladders, we pass the fluorescent-lit room that houses the stained glass disc you see from the inside of the dome.

Beams holding the roof are scribbled with names along with dates from as far back as the late 1890s and many from the 1940s, presumably the crew who helped assemble the steel during the attic’s reconstruction.

Up one flight of stairs is the base of the tower featuring arced windows, one facing each direction.   Though this room is the equivalency of about ten stories up, it is one of the finest vantage points anywhere downtown, as you can see all four directions.  The north offers a full unobstructed view of the Trinity River, to the east and west all of the Belknap developments are in full view, and to the south is all of downtown in its entirety.

Before asbestos was so passé, ol’ Bill used some to permanently emblazon his visit in 1936.

The original bell and its clapper in perfect condition, although the bell never really moves:  Note the striking hammer on the left.  It is a bad idea to be standing beneath this monstrous bell at 59 after the hour.

Steve Weatherly ascending the thirty-rung ladder to the next level, the clockfaces.  Steve, of  Weatherly’s Clockworks has been climbing the series of old ladders and staircases inside the clock tower to do the honors for the past eight years.  Twice a year he hikes the tower to change the time as well as lubricate the moving parts and perform routine maintenance.

The courthouse clock is no spring chicken.  The clockfaces and arm gears are the Seth Thomas originals from 1895, but in 1946 the timekeeping was converted from a weighted pendulum to motorized timekeeping.  The original counterweights and cable shaft are still visible.

High up in the room inside the four clockfaces, there is a little locked shack with windows which contains the main dial that controls the time seen on the exterior.  A square tool fits behind the dial and is turned to move a series of gears which in turn essentially move the clocks´ hands.

Although the official time change happens at 2am, this time around, the clocks were changed at 5pm on Saturday, making the courthouse clocks technically inaccurate for nine hours.  Contrary to popular belief, there is no of clock-changing party where people dress up as clock notables such as Flava Flav and Benjamin Franklin.  Although there should be.  Perhaps in the Fall.