Who Would Lock Up a Liberty Bell?!
We hoped to visit the Massachusetts liberty bell replica when we visited the Massachusetts State house in Boston. We had visited three bells already (New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine) and were excited to see this one and find out which serial number was on the bell.
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Table of contents
What Is a Liberty Bell Replica Anyway?
Recap of our Liberty Bell Replica Quest: in 1950, the U.S. Department of the Treasury held a “Save For Your Independence” savings bond drive. Connected to this drive was the casting of fifty-five full-size replicas of the American Liberty Bell in Annency-le-Vieux, France. Every state received one of these replicas, with the stipulation to display it publicly and give free access to it. When we found out about them, we decided that a Liberty Bell Replica quest would be an excellent addition to our Statehouse Selfies.
So What Happened in Boston?
Which worked just fine with the other three bells, which were close to the state houses, but not as easily with this one. We started by asking security at the entrance where we could see their liberty bell replica. They referred us to the interns on the second floor.
When we asked the interns, they were very nice and told us “Oh yes, the liberty bell replica! It is here at the state house, but it is locked up… You can see a bit of it from this window.” The view from this window involved Tom climbing over several pieces of furniture and then kind of seeing the top of the bell.
They recommended us to return to security and see whether they would be willing to unlock the bell.
Back to Security
We returned and no, they weren’t. “Nobody sees the liberty bell!” But they did send us to another viewpoint where a security guard opened a locked door so we could get to a statue and get another glimpse of the bell. Yeah, not very impressive from a distance. We were grateful for the glance but not really satisfied with our view of the bell.
Back to Security AGAIN
Back we went to the front door security people, who must have hated us by now. We reported that the last place was not quite what we are looking for and reminded him that the treasury department explicitly stipulated that this bell should be publicly accessible. He called his manager and explained the situation (there are these weirdos from New Hampshire who just won’t go away!) and hooray!
Victory!
He got official permission to unlock the Liberty Bell for us!
Had to go through a bunch of “No access! There be dragons!” doors, but eventually reached Our Bell! Happiness ensued! We got our picture of the bell and were able to find the serial number, which turned out to be 10. Although looking at the picture over and over, I wonder whether it is 50…
Update July 4th 2020: Rick Brock has a liberty bell page on Facebook and was able to get closer than we did. He kindly provided us with the correct number: 30 ! Thank you, Rick!
This is the first liberty bell which did not have a crack painted on it.
It was not an easy process, but we succeeded! Persistence and determination. Now we could go back home to get ready for that night’s Airbnb’ers 😀
Liberty bell replica count: 4! Looking forward to visiting all the other ones. Hoping that they are not locked up! Follow our quest to visit all State Liberty Bell Replicas.
What YOU Can Do to Help This Liberty Bell
When you find yourself close to Boston and have time to visit the state house, do it and ask for the liberty bell replica. The more people ask, the better the chances for a publicly accessible liberty bell, like the treasury department intended!
Comments
25 responses to “Massachusetts Locked Up Their Liberty Bell!”
What an interesting read! The Massachusetts State House looks beautiful. If I ever visit Boston, I definitely want to check this out 🙂
Best,
Kat | http://www.katimalist.com
Thank you, Kat!
Yes, the Boston statehouse is worth a visit for sure; Make sure to ask about the liberty bell. The more people request it, the better the chances for it to be released to a more accessible spot!
This was such an interesting read! I never even realised the replicas existed, I have to say making it into an expedition to find them all sounds like great fun! Good luck with finding the rest! 😁
Thank you, Hermione!
That’s what I love about reading travel blogs, I am learning so many new things each day! Go find your state’s replica if you can (hmmm, actually now that I think about it, you might be in the UK, and we would be celebrating our independence from you guys 😀 ) m. Doing a quick library visit now, and want to write about my sunshine blogger award, so will read more of your blog later when I have my “work” done 🙂
Reading your blog has been making me feel like curling up on the sofa with a good book, which gets me out in the world and gets me to discover more places we want to visit! Tonight 🙂
How very true Karen! It’s so wonderful to be able to read and connect with people all over the world on their journeys! Hahaha you are right, I am indeed in the uk, however I am hoping to next year to go traveling around America again and hopefully visit Canada too (I lived there for 3 years). So I shall definitely keep an eye out for the replica bell when I’m traveling, as I’m hoping to cover a few states! Congratulations on the sunshine blogger award! 😁 Aww that’s so nice to hear! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the blog! your words mean so much to me! I’ll keep reading yours too when I get back from work! 😁 all the best
Thank you, Hermione . Hope you will get to see some liberty bells, and looking forward to reading about it !
That looks amazing! I wish I could go and see them all too, seems really interesting
Beth x | https://bethrebecca.com
Thank you, Beth! Even if you can’t visit them all, you might be able to visit the one(s) within driving distance of where you are. I like that they give you a sense of our country’s history in a very concrete way. History you can touch!
My friend in Jamaica does something very similar with her husband. They go around the Island visiting Lighthouses and learning about the history. I think both are pretty cool.
Thanks Oprah! Ah, light houses! We have been considering that quest in Maine, but not been organised enough yet to pull it off! Glad your friends are doing it in Jamaica! Do they have a blog? Would be an interesting read!
Oh No they don’t Karen. Now that you mentioned it I think I’ll encourage them to blog about it.
Yes, I hope they will! Would be a great read and a good way for them to document their memories.
Love this post! I’ll take note of this when I visit the US ♥️
Thank you, Nicka! I hope you get to see at least one of the liberty bells, it’s such a big part of the USA story!
This is such an exciting quest! It’s like in the movies!
I wish you the best of luck to see all the remaining ones and send you positive vibes!
Enjoy the experience!!
Thank you! It is indeed a super fun quest. Especially when states try to keep us away from that is rightfully ours 😀 😀 😀
We easily amuse ourselves.
Hope to share more liberty bell stories soon, this week has been busy and insane (kind of like most weeks 😀 😀
Oh, wow! I admire your persistence! And I am adding liberty bell replicas to our future road trip plans! This is cool!
Yes, go seek out the liberty bell replicas in your state and on your travels! It is such an unique and cool off-the-beaten path travel, not to mention it might lead to great stories like this 😀
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
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