The Meneely foundry in West Troy
by Tom Carroll
The Meneely foundry in West Troy is one of the most significant
bell foundries in the New World. It was founded in 1826 and
went out of business sometime around 1851. The records of the
firm are at theNew York State Library in Albany, and a finding aid
for that collection is available. During their history, they made
about 75,000 bells. There’s an amateur historian in town named
Gene Burns who has tracked down about 8,000 of the ones that
have survived to the present. There was another Meneely bell
foundry across the river from them, located at 22 River Street here
in Troy. It came about because of a family feud. Andrew Meneely,
the founder of the West Troy firm, had three sons. Before he died
in his 40s, he had broughtthe oldest one into the firm. That son
brought in the second oldest after his father died, but the third
son went off to fight in the Civil War. When he returned in the late
1860s, the two other brothers wouldn’t let him into the business,
so he crossed the river in a huff and startedhis own firm. That firm
made about 25,000 bells, including the replacement for the Liberty
Bell that hangs to this day in IndependenceHall in Philadelphia.
We just took ownership of a West Troy Meneely bell that is 46" in
diameter, weighs about 2,000 pounds, and was cast
for a local Methodist church in 1889. That bell sold at auction on
November 1st for $7,000 plus auctioneer’s commission. I’m told
that a run-of-the-mill Meneely can fetch about $3 a pound just now,
and a really good one can fetch $11 or $12 a pound. We have the
records of the Troy Meneely foundry in our museum, including a
comprehensive geographic index of every bell they ever made.
There is also quite a bit of additional information about the history
of bell-making in this area. It is unquestionably the most important
bell-making region in the New World.
P. Thomas Carroll
Executive Director
Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway
Burden Iron Works Museum
Foot of Polk Street
Troy, NY 12180-5539
