An architect designed custom clocks for Pennsylvania’s Capitol a century ago. They’re still ticking

Visitors to Pennsylvania’s Capitol are drawn to its priceless artwork, polished marble and intricate carvings, but hidden behind the doors of some of its most ornate offices and chambers are another treasure: hundreds of antique clocks that were part of its original design.

HARRISBURG — Capitol buildings are almost always an imposing presence. The seat of government, they tend to be elegant and stately — and frequently capped by a dome.

Visitors to Pennsylvania ‘s Capitol are drawn to its priceless artwork, polished marble and intricate carvings, but hidden behind the doors of some of its most ornate offices and chambers are another treasure: hundreds of antique clocks that were part of its original design.

The 273 working clocks include many that are integrated into fireplace mantels and other building features.

They are not low maintenance, requiring regular oiling and occasional mechanical overhauls.

And every week, in a throwback to a time before wristwatches and cellphones, clock winders roam the halls — ensuring the century-plus-old timekeepers keep ticking.

On a recent morning, Bethany Gill demonstrated how it’s done — going room to room with an array of ladders and custom tools. She opens the glass covers, rotates the mechanisms enough to keep them going for about a week and checks their accuracy before moving on to the next one.

Gill is a former art student who works for Johnson & Griffiths Studio, a Harrisburg firm that just received a five-year, $526,000 winding and maintenance contract renewal from the Capitol Preservation Committee.

She’s also a lifelong clock lover who looks forward to the semiannual transitions between daylight saving time and Eastern Standard Time.

Why?

“My dad was a clock collector growing up,” Gill said. “And every Sunday we would go around the house and wind the clocks. And that was always just a nice thing that I did with my dad.”

Pennsylvania’s Capitol was crafted by architect Joseph M. Huston, who won its design competition in 1901 with a vision for a temple of democracy — a palace of art that would be as fancy as what could then be found in Europe.

Among countless other fine touches, Huston designed at least 180 custom clock cases, including smaller so-called keystone clocks that are shaped to remind people of Pennsylvania’s early and critical role in the formation of the United States, leaving it with the nickname of the Keystone State.

“The clocks are just part of why the building’s so unique and so intricate,” said Capitol Preservation Committee historian Jason Wilson. “The mantels surrounding the clocks are all custom designed.”

Every so often the clocks, most of them built from mahogany or stained mahogany, are carefully removed from their spots around the Capitol and taken to a facility for cleaning, maintenance and repair. They seem to run better when kept wound.

Huston, the architect, achieved his goal. The Capitol is a showpiece that draws thousands of visitors every year to where 253 state lawmakers convene to debate and pass legislation.

While the buildings and the clocks are his lasting legacy, Huston was convicted of a conspiracy to defraud the state during the Capitol construction project and spent several months in another Pennsylvania landmark, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.