Dating back to the late Ottoman Empire period, the clock tower is one of the most recognizable buildings in the Qushla and remained in operation after the independence of Iraq.

[4] Following the killing of Lieutenant-Colonel Gerard Leachman by a Bedouin during the 1920 Iraqi Revolt, donations were collected to build a bronze statue of the colonel to immortalize his memory in Iraq.

The statue, depicting Leachman wearing Arab clothes while riding on a camel and holding a stick, was installed during the 6 May 1923 restoration.

[5] After the bombing of the Shabandar Coffeehouse in 2009 which is located next to the Qushla, there were widespread fears among intellectual Iraqis that the clock tower would cease operation.

Iraqi academic Hamid Majeed al-Hado stated the importance of the clock tower to al-Jazeera as part of the city's landmarks and helped people in the area to identify time.

[6] After a long hiatus, the Qushla clock tower, along with the complex its located in, was repaired and put back into operation in 2013.