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TheOhio Clock (orSenate Clock) is aclock in theUnited States Capitol. TheUnited States Senate ordered the clock fromThomas Voigt in 1815, and it has stood in or near the Senate Chamber since 1859.
SenatorDavid Daggett ofConnecticut ordered the eleven-foot (3.35 m) tall clock in late December 1815 fromPhiladelphiaclockmakerThomas Voigt for use in theOld Brick Capitol.[1][2][3] The clock was delivered in 1817 to theOld Senate Chamber and was moved to the corridor outside the newly finishedSenate Chamber in 1859.[4] There is no evidence to support the claim that senators hid illegal liquor in the clock during theProhibition period.[5] The glass covering the clock'sface was broken in the1983 United States Senate bombing. The clock, which was renovated inBoston in 2010, is wound weekly and keeps accurate time.[3]
The source of the clock's name is unknown.[6] One myth is that the clock was meant to commemorateOhio's admission to the Union as the 17th state because the shield on the front of the clock's case has seventeen stars in it. However, there is no record that shows the clock celebrates Ohio's statehood and the clock was ordered twelve years after Ohio became a state, at a time when there were already eighteen states.[1][6]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theUnited States Senate.
38°53′25″N77°00′32″W / 38.890353°N 77.008899°W /38.890353; -77.008899
