In the Autumn 2025 issue of the History Quarterly, the "Notes and Comments" item about the dedication of Berwyn Fire Company's new station mentions the historic 1833 bell that has a place of honor in the new station building's bell tower, also used for hanging hoses and training. Here is a lttle more of the bell's story.

Circa 1894, the alarm for a fire was sounded by banging a sledgehammer or iron bar against the suspended iron rim of a locomotive drive wheel. To replace that system, a used bell was purchased, circa 1900, at a cost of $60.00, plus $7.00 for delivery, from the Fairmount Fire Association in Philadelphia. With the exception of the fire station moving from Berwyn Avenue to Bridge Avenue in 1928–29, and the recent construction from 2024–25 of the new fire station on Bridge Avenue, the bell has been hanging in a tower above Berwyn for the majority of the 131-year history of the Berwyn Fire Company.

Notably, the bell was cast by John Wilbank, who also cast the first replacement bell for Independence Hall, but did not remove or destroy the cracked original, fortunately recognizing its future historical value. Wilbank was a well-known bell caster in Philadelphia, and an active advocate for the abolition of slavery until his death in 1843.

Sources

• "Berwyn Fire Company" by Florence Barnes, TEHCQ, Vol. 15 No. 4 (October 1970), pp 61–65
• John Wilbank Wikipedia page
• Berwyn Fire Company Dedicates New Station 2

In the printed version of the Autumn 2025 issue of the History Quarterly, in the "Notes and Comments" item titled "Marching Out Into the Future: 250 Years of the U.S. Army," the two reenactors who conducted the black powder musket firing demonstrations were not identified in the corresponding photo caption on page 36.

About two weeks after the issue was released for printing, and the books were already printed, we received a reply to our inquiry and we can now identify them as Ranger Emily Wright (image 5) and Ranger Bob Donnelly (image 6) at Valley Forge National Historical Park. The caption will be updated in the PDF version of the article that will appear online.