Our gem is a marvel of 19th-century engineering: a Seth Thomas #18 clock, which kept time for Ravenna from the top of the Portage County Courthouse from 1883 until 1960. It shares many remarkable similarities with London's Big Ben.
It also represents a significant milestone in the history of timekeeping, which you can read about here.
To show you the clock, we have a less-than 2-minute video that shows our ticking clock and its relation to Big Ben as it would look in a large lobby.
It took five years to restore the clock. In 2020, when the clock was still housed in the Portage County Historical Society clock tower, we documented the condition of the clock, highlighting the rust and grime that had engulfed it since it was installed there in 1973.
In 2022, the clock was removed from the Historical Society and taken to the American Clock Shop, inside Flex Storage on Cleveland Road. The clock stayed there four years. Restoration was led by Richard Whitmore, with help from master machinist Reggie Riddle.
.jpg)
Once restored, the clock was tested at Flex Storage. It worked perfectly.
Visit the Clock
In early 2026 the clock was returned to the Portage County Historical Society and placed, unassembled, inside the museum, not in the old tower. What happens next is anyone's guess.
There are other clocks in the country that share features with this one — yet none match the specific historical significance of Ravenna's timepiece, which even the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. cannot claim.
.jpg)
.jpg)
