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It's 3 o'clock somewhere? In Bulloch, at least for a little while

Bulloch County Courthouse clock replaced this week but will sit on 3 o'clock for until all repairs are completed
DeWayne Grice
DeWayne Grice
Clock
Whitfield Sign Co. workers install the new courthouse clock Credit: Grice Connect

The Bulloch County Courthouse west facing clock was replaced on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, after being damaged by a storm last April. Getting the clock replaced has been a bit of a challenge according to David Campbell, Bulloch County Building and Facilities Manager. The current clocks are not the original ones installed in the clock tower, which were made of wood, but an updated plastic type material. It is believed that the four clocks were updated as part of the 2000 renovations of the courthouse.

Bulloch Courthouse
Storms blew out the west facing clock in April of 22

Because of the custom design of the clocks, finding a replacement was not something you could simply order locally or off the internet. After researching options, the county decided to work with local citizen Josh Whitfield and his team at Whitfield Sign Co. who were up for the challenge.

The clock face had to be completely rebuilt by hand. Every part of the face of the clock was fabricated locally by Whitfield Sign Co.

Whitfield Sign Co. team members installing the clock face

Wednesday afternoon, after months of supply chain and other challenges, the Whitfield sign team along with assistance from Cambell, Bulloch County employees, and a few inmates from the county Work Camp, successfully installed the new clock.

Whitfield Sign Co. installation team members Cody Mckeever, Matt Payne and Scott Lank completed the installation of the sign.

"This was definitely a fun project and not one we see come through the shop every day," said Cody Mckeever. "We all agree that it is pretty cool to be part of the community's history. When we drive by now and look up, we can say we did that."

3 o'clock for now

The next step of the process is reconnecting the hands on the clock face to the mechanical mechanism.

"We turned off the clock as a precaution after the damage and have experts coming from Atlanta to reconnect the hands, set the clock time, and restart the clock and the chimes," said David Cambell.

The county has contracted with Atlanta Clockworks to handle the mechanical part of this project. Cambell hopes they will be able to get the clock back working next week. In addition, the familiar chimes on the hour and half hour will be restarted filling the downtown air.

Until then, at least on the new west facing clock, it will be 3 o'clock somewhere. That somewhere happens to be Bulloch County. Maybe a Jimmy Buffett fan can rise to the occasion and write a revision just for Bulloch?