It is said that a clock that stands still is sure to point right once in 12 hours, but Montesano residents will soon see the clock on top of their historic courthouse repaired, and no longer pointing resolutely in the direction of almost 11 o’clock, although some might have wondered for months whether that is a.m. or p.m.

Mark Cox, Director of Utilities & Community Development for the county, said the clock began losing time a couple of months ago. Staff kept resetting it, but when that task became too frequent they shut it down for repairs. After failing to find a local horologist, or maker of clocks, the county found a company online called Americlock in Maryland Heights, Missouri, that custom fabricates and repairs large wall clocks. Some of the gears were sent off to the company. Once repaired, the company will return and install them as well as repair and calibrate the clock. Cox says they’re hoping to see the repairs in the coming month.

Visible from miles away, the clock was built in 1911 by E. Howard and Company of Boston, Massachusetts, atop the three-story Grays Harbor County Courthouse building on Broadway Avenue. It must have been a beacon of its time. From the tower, you can see the Chehalis River and all of Montesano.

Public tours of the clock tower are no longer available, mostly because you have to climb a metal spiral staircase to access the weight and pendulum room, and then a steel ladder provides access to the movement and dial room in the dome on top of the courthouse.

Each of the clock faces is 7 foot 2 inches in diameter, with 14-inch tall numerals. LED rope lights now illuminate each face after an upgrade from floodlights some years ago. A smaller wooden building called the movement house is built around the clock, helping caretakers calibrate and protect the sensitive gears. A shaft through each side connects the clock to the faces on the outside walls.

Boards cut to the shapes of the clock remain in the movement house. They were built for World War II to darken the faces of the clock when the tower was used as a lookout for plane spotters. More recent upgrades are also visible, including seismic retrofitting installed to reinforce the structure after the 1999 Satsop Earthquake.

A combined 110 years of ingenuity, the clock has had multiple power supplies including glass-encased lead-acid batteries, and the ballast and pendulum system currently used. Cox said they considered a modern upgrade, maybe even something digital, but the historic timepiece endured and will get a rebuild instead.

Mark Cox holds a plate from the battery array that originally powered the clock. Roughly 1.5 volts was generated from each cell with each plate connected to the next in a series, combining that direct current (DC) power for the clock. In 1999, it was his duty to remove the battery acid from the 19 glass cells. (DAVE HAVILAND/THE DAILY WORLD)