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Last updated on Thursday, November 3, 2016
(BLOOMFIELD) - A piece of Greene County history has a new home on the courthouse lawn, and will soon bear the names of people important to the area.
The Greene County Daily World reports the bell, which once rang in the top of the Greene County Courthouse dating back to 1886, is now housed under a gazebo outside the front entrance of the county seat, thanks to the work of local entities.
The bell was moved to the gazebo because INDOT is redesigning the curb at the stop light at the northeast corner of the courthouse. The state purchased the right-of-way from the county, placing the bell within inches of the new proposed sidewalk.
Greene County Commissioner Nathan Abrams says BloomBank was the driving force behind building the gazebo and placing the bell inside.
The Bloomfield Rotary Club, with former judge David Holt, was looking for a project for the Rotary for the Indiana Bicentennial, to do something to recognize General Nathanael Greene - for whom the county is named.
The bank also wanted to honor long-time employee who passed away - Jim Oliphant, also known as "Big O", was also a county councilman.
Plaques will adorn the area inside the gazebo, one with a caricature of the county's namesake, Nathanael Greene, a plaque to detail Jim Oliphant's service to the county and the last one to note the project was a joint effort with the Bloomfield Rotary Club and BloomBank.
Before placing the bell inside the gazebo the county sent it to a bell maker in Missouri to have it polished, then clear coated.
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