Hastings City Bank Clock
The Hastings City Bank clock was made by the O.B. McClintock Co. in Minneapolis, MN after 1917. The O.B. McClintock Co. manufactured large clocks for financial institutions around the country starting in 1908 and continued until 1949. Typically, these clocks were mounted to the exterior of the purchasing institution and chimed every 15 minutes. A Charlton Park Board member reminisced about hearing the clock chime from miles away on a clear day.
The clock was mounted on the original Hastings City Bank building at 102 E. State St. in 1926. It was moved to the new Bank building at 150 W. Court St. and mounted on a pedestal in 1958; it remained there until it was donated to Historic Charlton Park in 1986. The clock now resides outside the Michigan Tornado, Cyclone, and Windstorm Insurance Co. building (Hastings Mutual Insurance Co. today) at Historic Charlton Park.
Since the clock’s installation at the Park, it has never operated successfully. The maintenance to operate the clock and to physically wind the masterworks every 7 days became unmanageable. All of the electric was replaced, the motors on the clock faces were repaired, and many experts have attempted to keep it running, all to no avail. After many years of struggling to operate the clock consistently (1986-2009), the Historic Charlton Park staff decided it was time to pursue different options.
A restorer in Michigan was located to offer his opinion on the future of the clock. As a result of that initial visit, the Park’s Collections/Education Committee began in-depth discussions to find a solution acceptable to all parties. In the meantime, the support post for the clock became unstable and the clock began to lean - it had to come down before more extensive damage was sustained.
The Collections/Education Committee recommended to the Charlton Park Board on September 2013 that the clock be fully restored to working condition to insure its longevity. The restorer, Robert Butts, undertook a full restoration of the clock, removing damaged copper, sandblasting and painting the interior steel supports, refurbishing the stained glass, and replacing the internal mechanism with computerized works. Portions of the clock could be salvaged and the restorer replaced or manufactured the rest. The clock also lights up when it gets dark. The clock now run consistently, chime the hour and be a fixture in the area for at least another 50 years.
Monies contributed to the Charlton Park Village Foundation by Hastings City Bank were utilized for the removal with additional funding from the Charlton Park Village Foundation itself. The refurbished Hastings City Bank clock was installed at Historic Charlton Park in 2014.
