Artesia News

City Council Decides on Street Name Change

Artesia’s oldest artifact, an iron-cast bell possibly from the late 1870s, made another historical move on the morning of September 5, when the City removed it from its long-lived in home in a steeple at the former Artesia Christian Church.

The Artesia Christian Church property was sold due to a drop in membership. In the middle of the church courtyard, is the bell tower that once housed the bell, which was donated to the Artesia Christian Church in 1910 under the pretense that it would never leave the city.

Prior to the Artesia Christian Church, the bell was the property of the Artesia Grammar School, which was part of the Artesia School District founded in 1875.

A crane with a 110 foot boom was leased from Able Crane, a company from Santa Fe Springs, to move the 400-pound bell. First, Chuck Burkhardt and Rudy Gonzales removed the roof section of the steeple, and the crane brought the roof down to the ground. The crane then moved the bell onto a truck, and then put the roof back on the tower.

Burkhardt said he had to be very careful during the removal of the tower because the way the bell is encased told him that no one expected it to go anywhere.

The bell was taken to an indisclosed location until Artesia's Historic District is fully renovated.