Liberty Bell Center

Liberty Bell Center

Independence National Historical Park

Tickets ARE NOT required to visit the Liberty Bell Center at any time.

The Liberty Bell Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The security gates close at 4:55 p.m.

Visiting

The Liberty Bell Center is located on Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets. The building is open year round. The Liberty Bell Center offers a video presentation and exhibits about the Liberty Bell, focusing on its origins and its modern day role as an international icon of freedom. Taped presentations about the history of the Liberty Bell are offered in a dozen languages for the convenience of foreign visitors. The Liberty Bell itself is displayed in a magnificent glass chamber with Independence Hall in the background.

Learn about the story of the Liberty Bell in this audio podcast (available for download - right click and then "Save as Target)

The Liberty Bell's inscription

Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X
By Order of the ASSEMBLY of the Province of PENSYLVANIA [sic] for the State House in Philad^a

Pass and Stow
Philad^a
MDCCLIII (1753)

The Bell's Message
The Liberty Bell's inscription conveys a message of liberty which goes beyond the words themselves. Since the bell was made, the words of the inscription have meant different things to different people. When William Penn created Pennsylvania's government he allowed citizens to take part in making laws and gave them the right to choose the religion they wanted. The colonists were proud of the freedom that Penn gave them. In 1751, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly ordered a new bell for the State House. He asked that a Bible verse to be placed on the bell - "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Leviticus 25:10). As the official bell of the Pennsylvania State House (today called Independence Hall) it rang many times for public announcements. The old State House bell was first called the "Liberty Bell" by a group trying to outlaw slavery. These abolitionists remembered the words on the bell and, in the 1830s, adopted it as a symbol of their cause. Beginning in the late 1800s, the Liberty Bell traveled around the country to expositions and fairs to help heal the divisions of the Civil War. It reminded Americans of their earlier days when they fought and worked together for independence. In 1915, the bell made its last trip and came home to Philadelphia, where it now silently reminds us of the power of liberty. For more than 200 years people from around the world have felt the bell's message. No one can see liberty, but people have used the Liberty Bell to represent this important idea.

The Liberty Bell: From Obscurity to Icon
The Bicentennial Bell 1976
LIBERTY BELL INFORMATION SHEET
Liberty Bell information in International languages click here
How The Liberty Bell may have sounded

Bell Facts, How It Cracked

A bell for the Pennsylvania State House was cast in London, England, however, it cracked soon after it arrived in Philadelphia. Local craftsmen John Pass and John Stow cast a new bell in 1753, using metal from the English bell. Their names appear on the front of the bell, along with the city and the date. By 1846 a thin crack began to affect the sound of the bell. The bell was repaired in 1846 and rang for a George Washington birthday celebration, but the bell cracked again and has not been rung since. No one knows why the bell cracked either time.

The bell weighs about 2000 pounds. It is made of 70% copper, 25% tin, and small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold, and silver. It hangs from what is believed to be its original yoke, made from American elm, also known as slippery elm.

 

Park information is now available in the following languages, about the Liberty Bell.

Arabic
Chinese
Dutch
French
German
Hebrew
Hindi
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Portuguese
Spanish
Russian

Liberty Bell Information download to print or smart phone

 

• The Liberty Bell as a symbol

  

  Did you know the Liberty Bell was named by abolitionists fighting to end slavery? For closed captioning of this video, please visit www.youtube.com/indenhp

  Credit/ Author:

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Independence Hall was the Liberty Bell's old home before 1976.

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The Liberty bell

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