The Bell Wall: Where Northeast Missouri’s Retired Bells Go to Live

Kirksville has a wall full of retired bells. 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔

This is not a metaphor.

The Bell Wall on Truman State University's campus contains five historic bronze bells collected from old churches, schoolhouses and public buildings around Northeast Missouri.

They had jobs.

They served communities.

They announced things.

Then Kirksville said:

“You've done enough. Get in the wall.” 😂

This is analog notification technology

Before phones went:

DING! You have 37 unread emails.

These things went:

DOOOOOONG. SOMETHING IS HAPPENING.

That was the entire user interface.

No account.

No password.

No push-notification permissions.

No cloud subscription.

Just several hundred pounds of metal informing the county that events had occurred. 🔔💪

The bells have history

The Bell Wall was added during the university's 1967 centennial era, and the five bells came from regional churches, schools and public buildings.

They were meant to represent ideals including liberty, justice, religion and education.

Which is dignified and meaningful.

But they are also, technically, decommissioned Northeast Missouri notification devices mounted permanently in masonry.

I feel this fact deserves more recognition.

Imagine trying this today

“Hey, what should we do with these five obsolete devices?”

Modern answer:

• recycle them;
• sell them;
• put them on Facebook Marketplace;
• store them in a closet for seventeen years.

Kirksville answer:

WALL. 🧱🔔

Honestly, superior.

It somehow works

The strange thing is that the Bell Wall is actually beautiful.

You walk by it and think about history, education, community and all the little towns and buildings those bells once served.

Then five seconds later your brain catches up and says:

“Wait. We built a retirement condo for bells.”

Yes.

Yes we did.

And they're doing great. 😂