Bell Tower City of Richmond Department of Community Development

The Bell Tower at the southwest corner of Capitol Square was originally a guardhouse for the public guard and a signal tower for emergencies and meetings. While the tower is architecturally significant, the building is also noteworthy because of its history and its place in Capitol Square. Designed by builder Levi Swan and erected in 1824, the square Neoclassical building has one bay surrounded by blind arches on each side and is topped by an arcaded octagonal belvedere. The brick tower is laid in Flemish bond and dressed in Acquia sandstone.

This building replaced an earlier wooden bell tower that stood closer to the Capitol. At the time of its construction, the current Bell Tower was next to the barracks of the Virginia Capitol Guard, the predecessors of the Capitol Square Police, and served to warn the city in case of fire or other emergency. During the Civil War, the bell in the tower rang to alert Richmond to the approach of the Federal gunboat Pawnee and on February 7, 1864 to sound the alarm for Dahlgren’s Raid, a Union assault on the Confederate capital.

Bell Tower c.1900-1930 Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries

The Bell Tower fell into disuse in the late 19th century, but interest in historic preservation in the early 20th century prompted its restoration. The building now houses a tourist information office, and the bell in the tower calls the Virginia General Assembly into session, as it has since the 1930s.