Perry Township To Honor America’s 250th Birthday on June 6th
- Editor
- Apr 19
- 2 min read
By Sally Jordan Reed
Perry Township Historical Society is making plans for a celebration in honor of America’s 250th birthday to take place on June 6th. The event will begin at noon with a picnic lunch followed by fun and games, historical portrayals, gifts and prizes. The event will be totally free.
Perry Township has contributed its fair share of historical events over those 250 years, including one that took place at West Monterey.
In 1915, 500,000 school children signed a petition asking that our Nation’s symbol of freedom, the Liberty Bell, be sent to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco that year. Thus began the one-and-only cross-country tour of the bell.
A special train, “The Liberty Bell Special,” was outfitted for the trip and departed from Broad Street Station in Philadelphia at 3 p.m. on July 5, 1915. The train was made up of 3 Pullmans, 2 baggage cars, a dining car, and a lighted and decorated flatcar for the bell. The bell was hung from a wooden yoke painted with the phrase “Proclaim Liberty — 1776.” Only a brass railing around the flatcar served as a barrier from onlookers and guards limited the privilege of touching the bell.
The train took a northern route west across the states and a southern route on the return trip east.
This story was told by Nora Stewart, whose husband, Harold Stewart, grew up in West Monterey. The Liberty Bell Special was to pass through at 1:00 a.m. but was not a scheduled stop for viewing because it was in the middle of the night. However, an unnamed town citizen lit a “fusee” along the tracks.
Trains were not to pass a fusee until it had burned out. Therefore, local residents were able to see the Liberty Bell up close. The train was eventually permitted to move on to East Brady where it was scheduled for a stop.
The train returned to Philadelphia on November 25, 1915, after 143 days and 17,000 miles, passing through 30 states, and being viewed by an estimated 20 million people.
Final plans and a schedule for the June 6th event will be forthcoming soon.
