The bell rang to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and after the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775. Once Washington was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless, and the city prepared for the inevitable. The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ordered that eleven bells, including the State House bell and the bells from Christ Church and St. Peter's Church, be taken down and removed from the city to prevent the British, who might melt the bells down to cast into cannons, from taking possession of them.
A train of over 700 wagons guarded by 200 cavalry from North Carolina and Virginia and under the command of Colonel Thomas Polk of the fourth Regiment North Carolina Continental Line, left Philadelphia for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Hidden in the manure and hay were the bells, and hidden in the wagon of Northampton County militia private John Jacob Mickley was the State House bell. On September 18, the entourage and armed escort arrived in Richland Township. On September 23, the bishop of the Moravian Church in Bethlehem reported that the wagons had arrived, and all bells except the State House bell had been moved to Northampton-Towne. The following day, the State House bell was transferred to the wagon of Frederick Leaser and taken to the historic Zion’s Reformed Church in Allentown, where it was stored, under the floorboards. On September 26, British forces marched into Philadelphia, unopposed, and occupied the city. The bell was restored to Philadelphia in June of 1778, after the end of the British occupation.
During the 19th century, the bell tolled at the death of Alexander Hamilton (1804), Lafayette’s return to Philadelphia (1824), the deaths of Adams and Jefferson (1826), Washington’s 100th birthday celebration (1832) and the deaths of Lafayette (1834), John Marshall (1835), and William Henry Harrison (1841).
On February 22, 1846, the bell was tolled for several hours in the tower of Independence Hall in honor of George Washington's birthday. When the bell was rung, the crack grew from the top of the repaired crack to the crown of the bell, rendering the bell unusable. Contrary to popular belief, the large crevice that currently exists in the Liberty Bell is a repair from the expansions, and not the crack itself.
From 1885-1915, the Liberty Bell traveled to numerous cities and was displayed at expositions and world's fairs. In 1902, the Liberty Bell was involved in a train accident when the locomotive transporting the bell to an exposition in South Carolina derailed after a collision with another train. In November 1915, the bell took its last nationwide tour while returning from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. In the 1930s, it was determined that moving the bell from location to location was too risky, and the practice was ended.
On January 1, 1976, in anticipation of increased visitation during the bicentennial year of American independence, the Liberty Bell was relocated from Independence Hall to a glass pavilion one block north (at the southwest corner of 5th and Market Streets). This small, unadorned pavilion proved somewhat unpopular with many visitors and this led to the idea of having a larger pavilion created, which finally opened in 2003. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain visited Philadelphia in 1976 and presented a gift to the American people of a replica "Bicentennial Bell,” cast in the same British foundry as the original. This 1976 bell now hangs in the Independence Living History Center near Independence Hall.
In October 2003, the bell was moved a short distance southwest to a new pavilion, the Liberty Bell Center. There was some controversy about the site chosen for the new structure, which was just to the south of the site of where George Washington had lived in the 1790s. After the initial planning, the building's site was found to be adjacent to the quarters for the slaves owned by Washington. The decision over how to acknowledge this fact in the display has led to some debate.
As of 2006, the bell remains in this location at the northeast corner of sixth and Chestnut Streets. The new National Constitution Center is located two blocks to the north, and Independence Hall is located directly across the street, on the south side of Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets. The Bell’s former pavilion at the southwest corner of fifth and Market Streets was up for purchase after the move in an effort to reduce demolition costs, but after the auction drew little response, it was converted into a security station that screens tourists traveling in and around Independence Mall. The pavilion was removed from the site in March 2006. The Liberty Bell Center, with its storied bell, and the nearby Independence Hall, are part of Independence National Historical Park, administered by the National Park Service.
