This is something that I’ve wanted to do for almost a decade. Between 2000 and 2006, I worked as a reporter at The Monroe Journal newspaper in Monroeville. During that time, I wrote a story about Tommy Chandler, who was retiring as Peterman’s postmaster. In addition to being a long-time postal employee, Chandler was also the go-to guy for maintenance on the old clock at the Old Monroe County Courthouse, which was constructed in the early 1900s on Monroeville’s downtown square.
The historic building, which is known as “the most famous courthouse in America,” now houses the Monroe County Heritage Museums. The building is visited by thousands of tourists each year and is the home of an annual stage play of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The building was the model for the courthouse used in the big screen adaptation of that novel, which starred Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. When I interview Chandler, he told me that the clock tower is accessed by a series of old steps and that only a few people had ever been up there because you’ve got to be a little agile to pull it off.
Early last week, I contacted Museum Executive Director Stephanie Rogers to ask for permission to climb the old clock tower, and she gave me the go-ahead right away. I visited the museum on Friday, and Rogers took me to the clock tower’s access point, which is a set of fold-down, attic-style stairs on the courthouse’s balcony-level floor. Using a hook on the end of a long pole, I managed to pull down the accordion-like stairs and began the climb.
The clock tower consists of three levels, and the first set of stairs takes you into the first level. If you’re looking at the building from the outside, it’s the level just below the tower’s row of windows. This level contains air conditioning ductwork, and its most prominent feature is a set of narrow stairs that takes you to the second level.
The second level offers a lot to see. Aside from numerous structural supports and braces, this level features six tall windows that allow nice views of Monroeville’s downtown area. Rogers told me earlier that when the late Anne Farish was younger she enjoyed climbing to this level and “people watching” from the town’s highest perch. Farish, who died in January 2010 at the age of 83, was a larger-than-life personality who served as Monroeville’s mayor 16 years. I remember her well from my time at The Journal, and I know that she is dearly missed by all who knew her.
The second level also features the clock tower’s iconic bell, which chimes periodically to mark the passage of time. It didn’t dawn on me until after I’d left that the bell didn’t go off while I was up there, so I have no first hand details about how ear-shatteringly loud it could be for someone standing in close proximity to it. The inscription on the bell, which hangs from the top of the second level, reads “McShane Bell Foundry, Baltimore, Md., 1903.” This foundry, which was founded in 1856, is still in business and was featured on the Discover Channel TV show, “Dirty Jobs” a while back.
This level also features a set of narrow steps that’ll take you up to the third and final level of the clock tower. The third level features the actual clock, which keeps the time that is displayed on the four clock faces that project from the top of the building for viewers on the ground. Compared to the lower two levels, the third level was extremely dark. Only by the light of my trusty penlight could I see that the clock faces are backlit at night by a bank of fluorescent light fixtures that appear to be rigged to a timer.
I have to admit too that the third level does register high on the creepy scale. During my short time on the third level, I couldn’t help but recall some of the more popular ghost stories I’d heard about the courthouse. Longtime, award-winning Monroe Journal columnist George Thomas Jones, who also used to be my next-door neighbor, wrote a column once called “The ghost of the Old Courthouse.” In this spooky tale, he told of how many believe that there’s a ghost roaming Monroeville’s most famous landmark. Jones went on to say that many former museum employees believe that the ghost is the spirit of the late Probate Judge E.T. “Short” Millsap. For the record, while the third level of the clock tower is pretty creepy, I had no ghostly encounters during my visit.
From there, it was back down the steps to the courthouse’s balcony level. I have to admit that there was definitely a physical element to this adventure, and it wouldn’t be for everyone. I was drenched in sweat when I made it back down because of the hot, humid conditions in the tower. And I wouldn’t recommend the stairs to the extremely young or old. I wouldn’t call the path to the top of the tower dangerous, but the trip up wouldn’t be for everyone.
In any event, this was one of the coolest bucket list items that I’ve done, and of course, it would have been impossible without the permission of the museum staff. Special thanks to Rogers and the rest of the museum’s management for allowing me access to the clock tower. They could have shot me down with a quick “no,” but instead were extremely gracious hosts. I really appreciate them taking the time to humor me on this little project. It was a lot of fun and something that I’ll always remember.
In the end, I enjoyed scratching another item off my bucket list. How many of you have ever climbed to the top of the Old Courthouse? When did you do it? Who were you with? What did you think about it? Let us know in the comments section below.
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