Bicentennial Carillon

The Bicentennial Carillon rises as a ninety-five-foot concrete tower holding ninety-five bronze bells, each one representing a county in Tennessee. It was built in nineteen seventy-six to mark the two hundredth anniversary of the United States. During the construction, project managers realized the structure was too heavy for the soil, so they sank deep concrete piers to anchor it to the bedrock. A computerized system strikes the bells, but the mechanism sits exposed to the humid Tennessee air, often stalling the music.