Bell from Olive Milling Co.

ClassificationsTools and Equipment-musical instruments-bells

Date1882-1900

Used AtOrange, California, United States, North America

MediumIron and rope

Dimensions21 × 23 1/2 in. (53.3 × 59.7 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Reinhart and Marie Rath

Object number86.14.1A

DescriptionThis cast iron bell was originally used at the Olive Milling Company to call men to work and as a fire alarm. Despite its deceptive name, the mill did not produce olives, but rather the usual flour and feed. The name Olive came from the short-lived settlement named Olive where it was first built by Tom Dillin in 1882, prior to the establishment of Orange County, on a site identified today at the northwestern edge of Eisenhower Park in the City of Orange.

Powered by the waters of nearby Santa Ana River, Olive Milling Co. provided all of the flour and feed consumed within the Santa Ana Valley during OC's early days. In 1887 the company was renamed and expanded as the Olive Milling, Land & Improvement Company, purchasing and developing land to the west of the mill in the Olive Hills tract. In 1889, Louis Schorn purchased a half-interest in the Mill for $7,500. The original mill building was destroyed by a fire on September 29, 1889, after which it was rebuilt in a nearby location and reopened on April 8, 1890. Louis Schorn became President of the company and retained the position until 1906 when he sold his interest. This bell was donated to the Bowers Museum by Louis Schorn's daughter Mrs. Marie Rath.

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