Big Joe (bell)

[4][5] The massive bell was hauled by 12 horses up Gilbert Avenue, then down Madison Road to St. Francis de Sales in the neighborhood of East Walnut Hills.

[4] When first swung in January 1896, its deafening peal startled the Walnut Hills neighborhood and could be heard for 15 miles (24 km).

[2] However, a modern-day bell expert at Cincinnati-based The Verdin Company, foundry of the nearby and even larger World Peace Bell (which was cast in France), dismisses damage to window glass inflicted by Big Joe as a local legend with no historical basis.

[1] The 640-pound (290 kg) clapper was not used again; today the bell is rung only with an oversized foot hammer tapping its rim.

[3][7] Big Joe is struck thrice daily at 6 am, 12 noon and 6 pm for Angelus, followed by the chiming of four smaller bells, known as the "ladies in waiting", resting above it.