The restoration of the Montgomery County Courthouse clock tower is being recognized by the state’s history keepers.
The Indiana Historical Society named the project a recipient of the Founders Day Award, touting the cooperation between the tower’s fundraising group and the Montgomery County Historical Society to bring back the crowning landmark.
Award winners will be honored in a virtual ceremony at 6 p.m. Monday on the Indiana Historical Society’s Facebook page.
The 86-ft. tower was dedicated in 2018 after more than 20 years of fundraising. The original clock tower had been dismantled just before World War II due to structural concerns.
“I could squint my eyes when we would go to town and I would say to my husband, ‘I can see a clock tower up there. I can actually see it in my mind,’” said Sandy Brown, who chaired the tower committee. “And every time we go to town now… it’s like, there it is.”
Brown often speaks about fulfilling the promise she made to longtime physician and public officeholder Dr. J. Marion Kirtley, who originally championed the project. After Kirtley’s death in 2000, Brown relentlessly sent letters to potential donors, even writing to the president of the United States.
A loan from the county’s riverboat fund gave the committee the final push it needed. Crowds gathered on a sweltering Father’s Day for the dedication ceremony. The tower was named in Kirtley’s memory.
“It’s the center of our county. It’s something to look up to, it’s a symbol,” Montgomery County Historical Society member Janice Clauser said.
The tower restoration was one of a pair of projects recognized for a collaborative approach. Western Boone High School graduate Reece Thompson was honored for spearheading a project to restore and preserve a Black cemetery in Thorntown.
“Founders Day Awards honor the people and organizations who toil in the fields of history to create resources that benefit our state and its many communities,” Indiana Historical Society Board of Trustees Chair Susan Jones-Huffine said in a statement when the awards were announced.
“Our history proves that in times like these, we have reason to be hopeful.”
