♥ Colgate Clock ♥

While on my quick trip to Clarksville, IN to visit the Falls of the Ohio yesterday, I took a little side jaunt a few blocks up river to the Colgate Clock.

This is a landmark that is clearly visible from Louisville. It is really old (built in 1906 in New Jersey and illuminated in Clarksville since 1924!) really big (40 feet in diameter...the second largest clock in the world, only outdone by London's Big Ben!), and it stands atop the former Colgate/Palmolive factory in Clarksville.

Before the building was the Colgate factory, it served as the Indiana State Prison. After a fire in 1919, instead of paying the large amounts of money it would take to repair the building, the building was sold and the prison was moved to Pendleton, IN. In 1923, during the post-WWI industrial boom, it was refurbished as a factory. At first, to cut expenses, many of the prisoners stayed onsite and assisted in the labor at the factory.

In 2008, Colgate moved its factory from Clarksville. There have been no plans made to preserve the clock or the building, and there has been talk of developing the area into a shopping center due to its convenient location just off I-65. This has caused the site to rank on the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana 10 Most Endangered Historic Landmarks list.

With the Colgate sign that has since been removed. (Photo from http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7ZJ)