Rockwell Automation Headquarters and Allen-Bradley Clock Tower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Allen-Bradley Building |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | International Style |
| Town or city | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Country | United States of America |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Client | Allen-Bradley |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Fitzhugh Scott |
The Rockwell Automation Headquarters is a big office building. You can find it in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. This building is famous for something special: it has the largest four-faced clock in the whole world!
Contents
The Giant Clock Tower
A Look Back in Time
The Allen-Bradley Clock Tower is a well-known sight in Milwaukee. It belongs to Allen-Bradley, a brand that is part of Rockwell Automation.
The Guinness Book of World Records once said this about the clock: "The largest four-faced clock is on the Allen-Bradley Company's research and office building. Each of its four faces is over 40 feet wide! It was officially opened on October 31, 1962. The clock tower stands 280 feet tall from the streets of Milwaukee. It needs a lot of electricity to light up and run."
However, a newer clock in the Abraj Al Bait complex in Saudi Arabia now has even bigger faces.
How the Clock Came to Be
The idea for this huge clock tower started way back in 1959. Early drawings for the building showed plans for several towers. Only one of these was meant to have a clock. Later, the plans were changed. They decided to keep a smaller tower on an older building. This smaller tower was changed to show the outdoor temperature using a large digital screen.
The person who really wanted the clock tower was Harry Bradley. He was one of the two brothers who started the company. Harry was an inventor and loved to tinker with clocks he owned.
Nicknames and Uses
People in Milwaukee have given the clock tower some fun nicknames. It's often called "The Polish Moon." This name comes from the fact that the area around the building used to have many families from Poland. You can learn more about this history at places like St. Stanislaus Catholic Church.
More recently, some people call it the "Mexican Moon." This shows how the neighborhood has changed over time, with more people from Mexico living there now. Both groups of people still live in the area.
The bright lights of the clock faces have also been helpful. Sailors on Lake Michigan have used them to help find their way at night. But there was a time when the clock was dark. During the 1973 oil crisis, from November 1973 to June 1974, the clock was not lit up to save energy.
How Big is the Clock?
The clock tower stands about 280 feet (85 meters) tall. Its octagonal (eight-sided) faces are almost twice as big as the famous clock faces of London's Big Ben.
The company decided not to add chimes to the Allen-Bradley clock. This was done so that Big Ben could keep its title as the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. However, the clock at the Minneapolis City Hall has actually been the largest chiming clock since 1909!
Let's look at the size of the clock's hands:
- Each hour hand is 15.8 feet (4.8 meters) long. It weighs about 490 pounds (220 kg).
- Each minute hand is 20 feet (6.1 meters) long. It weighs about 550 pounds (240 kg).
- The numbers that mark the hours are 4 feet (1.2 meters) high!
