The Liberty Bell was originally called the State House Bell when it was placed in the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.
The bell was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in 1751 and cast in London by Lester and Pack, a firm later known as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. It arrived in Philadelphia in 1752 and was installed in the tower of the State House. The building later became known as Independence Hall because of its association with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The name “Liberty Bell” became popular in the nineteenth century, especially through abolitionist use of the bell as a symbol of freedom. It was not the name used when the bell was first ordered or installed. Its inscription comes from the biblical book of Leviticus: “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.”
The bell’s large crack also became part of its identity, although historians cannot establish one precise moment when the famous crack formed.