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Century tower clocks were tower clocks manufactured by Nels Johnson, ''designed to last 100 years.''〔NAWCC Bulletin No. 108, (February 1964), p. 89 ''Nels Johnson and his Century tower clocks'' by Dana J. Blackwell; ''He called his clocks "Century" tower clocks, designed to last one hundred years, and those still serving faithfully are a living testimony to his craftsmanship and integrity.''〕 They were "clocks built to last a century," hence the name "Century" tower clocks.〔 These tower clocks were mostly produced from 1880 to 1910.〔NAWCC Bulletin, August 2006, pp. 391-401, ''Nels Johnson, Michigan clockmaker'' by Jack Linahan〕 Johnson, by himself, made between 50 and 60 of these clocks.〔NAWCC Bulletin No. 108, (February 1964), pages 82-89 ''Nels Johnson and his Century tower clocks'' by Dana J. Blackwell〕 Johnson designed and manufactured these tower clocks at his machine shop in Manistee, Michigan. He built the clocks by himself and had no employees. Because of this he had low overhead and was able to underbid his competitors many times and obtain the order. The chief competitors of his in tower clock manufacturing were E. Howard & Co. of Boston and the Seth Thomas Clock Co. of Thomaston, Connecticut. These firms had large tower-clock departments and large department overhead as well. They were usually considerably greater than Johnson's and he was often able to underbid them. The actual bells he used in his striking clocks were from well-known bell founders such as Meneely in Troy, New York or Chaplin-Fulton bell foundry of Pittsburgh.〔 One of his tower clocks is that installed in 1906 by Nels Johnson at the Mason County Courthouse in Michigan that is still in use as of 2010. This tower clock he had originally installed in the Congregational Church at Manistee, Michigan, in 1892. The church had the clock removed in 1905 when they received a new clock.〔Record Publishing Company, pp. 185-87〕 He also has one of his clocks at the Lutheran Church in Rochester, N.Y., one at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, three in Milwaukee, one in Big Rapids, Michigan, and one in Postville, Iowa. One of his finest clocks was in the famed Fort Street Union Depot railroad station of Detroit, Michigan.〔 Johnson made about 50 to 60 tower clocks. Some are: * Los Angeles Times Building (1912) in Los Angeles, * San Jose Post Office (1909), * The Michigan Building at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, * Detroit Post Office (1891) in Detroit, * A bank in Holland, MI, * Lansing City Hall in Lansing MI, * Lyman Building (1889) in Muskegon MI, * St. Joseph Court House in St. Joseph MI, * Faith Church (1905) in Pelican Falls MN, * One installed in 1892 at Rochester NY, * U. S. Customs House at Memphis TN, * Milwaukee City Hall, * Emmanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church (1890) of Milwaukee, * Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (1891) of Milwaukee, * Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church (1894) of Milwaukee. In Manistee: * St. Joseph's Polish Catholic Church (1894), * First Methodist Episcopal Church (1893) * Johnson's Machine Shop around 1889. There are two known international installations. One in Chengtu, China, installed in 1914 and another at the Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow, India in 1910. Johnson did not go to these locations to install these clocks, though he did go and set up his tower clocks himself in every instance when they were installed in the United States.〔 == Gallery of clock mechanism == File:Century clock second hand.jpg| File:Century clock works.jpg| File:Century clock mechanism.jpg| File:Snail and rack.jpg| 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Century tower clocks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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