Charlie and the Clock Tower
Visible from virtually every corner of the city of Lawrence, MA, the Ayer Mill Clock Tower dominates the city’s landscape. It is at the center of Lawrence’s history and the focal point of many of my photographs of her mills. This Story recounts my two visits up to the Clock Tower and contains a couple of my images of the Clock Tower taken from around the city, images of the interior and of then Clock Keeper, Charlie Waites.
Ayer Mill Clock Tower as seen from the Stone Mill alcove
City Centerpiece
With the Ayer Mill Clock Tower a focal point of many of my images of Lawrence, I knew my work in the city wouldn’t be complete without photographs of its interior.
It was the fall of 2010, and I had been photographing the mills and landscape of Lawrence for a few years. With fingers crossed, I reached out to the the owners, Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF), via email requesting access. They responded, indicating they were open to the idea, and after some back and forth, a date and time was set. I was to meet the Keeper of the Clock, Charlie Waites, in the lobby of the New Balance in the Ayer Mill building on October 9, 2010 at noon.
When we met, Charlie told me that, because of liability concerns, tours of the Clock Tower are rare, making me feel even more fortunate. I signed the obligatory liability waiver and we made our way up and onto the roof, walking across to the base of the tower.
The Tower as seen from Canal Street during a winter storm
A little history
The Ayer Mill Clock Tower was built in 1910 as the centerpiece of the Ayer Mill, part of the American Woolen Company. It stands 267 feet tall, has four glass clock faces which, at 22.5 in diameter, are only six inches smaller than those London's Big Ben, making it the second largest four-faced chiming clock in the world.
When the textile industry migrated south in the 1950s, the mill closed, the clock stopped ticking, and the clock tower fell into serious disrepair.
The tower was restored to its past glory in 1991 through efforts led by Greater Lawrence Community Foundation and ECCF, and contracted to M&A Architectural Preservation. The roof was repaired, clock mechanism restored, bell replaced, masonry restored, and new lighting system installed.
The Ayer Mill today is home to New Balance Factory Stores, while the Clock Tower is owned by the ECCF. which is responsible for its upkeep through a permanent endowment.
View from the Clock Level looking up at the Clockworks House
On the Level
Minus the Tower, the Ayer Mill is six stories tall. The Tower adds an additional three or four stories—very tall stories—accessible via narrow steel staircases and through hatches separating the levels.
As we made our way through the various levels of the tower, Charlie was generous with his knowledge of Lawrence’s history and that of the Clock Tower, telling stories of the restoration and his role in it.
A machinist by trade, Charlie repaired and reconstructed elements of the clock mechanism. He also did some of the grunt work, like helping to shovel out the approximately six feet of bird droppings that had accumulated in the Tower’s well over its forty years of neglect.
Since the completion of the restoration, Charlie had served as the sole Clock Keeper, making almost daily trips to the Tower—regardless of weather conditions—for clock calibration, repairs and general maintenance.
Clockworks
Clock Works
There are several sections to the tower: the Base Level for access; the Cistern Room that houses a 20,000-gallon water cistern; the Bell Room with a 6,000 lb bell; and the Clock Level. I grabbed a couple of shots on the way up, but mainly photographed the Clock Level.
The four walls on the clock level, each with a clock face were identical. Rising up from the floor is a small room that houses the clock works mechanism. An array of lights facing the clock faces, and rising into the rafters, the steel braces that form the Tower’s skeleton to complete the scene.
I grabbed a couple of shots on the way up, but mainly photographed the Clock Level and Clockworks House.
Lawrence Skyline from the Joseph W. Casey Bridge
Charlie Waites in the door of the Clock Works House
A Portrait Request
Had my 2010 visit been my only trip up to the Ayer Mill Clock Tower, I would have been very happy. The resulting images were everything I had hoped for. I was a very happy photographer, and very grateful to Charlie and the ECCF.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I would be back for an even more meaningful photoshoot.
In 2012, I received an email from Charlie’s daughter (apologies for not recalling her name) asking if I would consider photographing Charlie in the his home away from home for over 20 years.
I was humbled and honored that Charlie recalled our meeting two years before. it was the perfect way to thank him for his hospitality the first time around, so naturally I jumped at the opportunity and we made the arrangements
Calibrating the Clock
Reacquainted
Like the last time, we met in the New Balance lobby. Unlike the last time, the conversation was more personal as we made our way up to the tower.
Charlie told me of his impending retirement, which at that point was not public knowledge. He told me that before he relinquished his duties as Clock Keeper, he wanted some photographs of himself in the Ayer Mill Clock Tower as a memento.
He remembered our previous meeting and thought of me. Charlie didn’t do computers, so he asked his daughter to track me down.
I thanked him again for the first trip to the tower, and thanked him anew for trusting me to memorialize him in the place that meant so much to him for so many years.
Passing the Torch
The photo session itself was went smoothly. All I really had to do was follow Charlie, let him do his thing and grab some candids. I looked for opportunities to balance Charlie with one of the four clock faces in the frame, other defining elements of the Clock Room for more formal portraits.
In the end, both Charlie and I were happy with the output.
Some time after our photo session in the tower, Charlie retired, handing the maintenance duties in part to his son Chris Waites, part of the next generation of caretakers and a continuation of the Waites family involvement with the clockworks.
Charlie looking down from the Clock Works House
Charlie Waites looking down from the Clock Works House
RIP Charlie Waites
Charlie sadly passed away in 2021.
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