Just outside the office entrance at Springfield is a large cast-iron bell. 20 inches in diameter, it weighs well over 165 pounds and stands on its own brick platform.
Cast into the stand are the words, “C.S. Bell Co., Hillsboro, O 4”. The bell was manufactured by the Charles Singleton Bell Company, which started manufacturing bells in 1875 in Hillsboro, Ohio and continues in business to this day. The company manufactured thousands of bells for farms, schools, churches and factories.
According to several older members of the meeting, the bell came from the Springfield School, which stood opposite the 1858 meetinghouse (now the Museum) where a marker stands today.
The school was built in 1907 and was eventually consolidated when the new Allen Jay School was built. The bell was probably moved to its present location in 1927.
Generations of people at Springfield have rung the bell. For many years, it was rung 10 minutes before the end of Sunday School, and again right at 11:00 to mark the start of worship. Forrest Mendenhall loved to tell the story of how he would sneak out of his class in Sunday School and ring the bell to try to get out of class early.
