Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell was first cast in 1752.
The bell was ordered from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London for the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall. It arrived in Philadelphia in 1752, but cracked during an initial test ring. Local founders John Pass and John Stow recast it, and their names appear on the bell.
The bell’s famous inscription comes from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.” The wording helped connect the bell with ideas of liberty, although evidence does not show that it rang to announce the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The large crack visible today developed during the nineteenth century, and the bell has not been rung since 1846. It remains one of Philadelphia’s best-known symbols of American independence and the America250 era.