Repairing the 100-year-old courthouse master clock was only a matter of time

Jasper County Maintenance Director Adam Sparks knows a thing or two about fixing odds and ends in the courthouse, but when it comes to repairing the inner workings of an antique pneumatic clock that is over a hundred years old, he calls a local tinkerer with a proven track record of solving these kinds of problems.

Even so, Dave Simons knew the task would be difficult. It is not every day you come by a clock that uses air pressure to drive its internal components. With many now relying on electricity or some kind of gear mechanism to operate — heck, most people just use their phone — a pneumatic clock is a relic of the past.

It took a little time and a little patience, Simons said, but it was worth it to see the pneumatic clock still operate as it was originally intended using air pressure. It is on display in the west wing of the Jasper County Courthouse, where Sparks has created a small museum of sorts to exhibit the building’s historic artifacts.

“I just always wanted to get this to work the way it used to, and fortunately he was the guy to do that,” Sparks said. “There are probably a handful of people who can make things like this happen. I’m not one of them. I just kept asking is about all I did. He made this thing work, and it is amazing.”

Known as a master clock, the large pneumatic clock synchronized all the other smaller, secondary clocks in the courthouse. If the master clock said it was 9 o’clock, the others in all the other rooms of the building also said it was 9 o’clock. The clocks were connected to the master clock through air lines.

To show how they used to work, maintenance connected one of the lines from the 1910 master clock to a secondary clock — also known as a slave clock — in the west entrance display. Keen eyes will notice a small pump inside the master clock, and when it deflates the hands of both clocks will move simultaneously.

Hidden away are small air tanks that allow the pneumatic system to operate within the master clock. Simons found this solution to work just fine. Sparks said Simons had to mimic how much air line the courthouse had in the building, tinkering away until he knew just how much air pressure was needed.

“He is just that guy who we have found can do anything and everything,” Sparks said. “He built a tool to reload the door cuffs — the springs — on the third floor. Literally went to his shop and built something to use to load it. We had no idea how to do it, and he figured it out.”

By trade, Simons is a toolmaker; he builds plastic injection molds. He traces back his experience with clocks back to childhood. He starting “fooling around” with an old kitchen clock his mom brought home for her basement antique shop. The clock wouldn’t run, so he gave it a look. Over time he got it running.

Simons was the perfect man for the job.

“Adam has called me off and on with various problems that I’ve helped him fix,” Simons said. “The Lord’s just given me an ability to understand mechanical stuff.”

It is satisfying for Simons to see the master clock operate again, but even more so to see the secondary clock working alongside it. Simons said it was challenging to get the master clock to work alongside only one secondary clock. Normally, the master clock would help power about 20 or so other clocks.

“When you try to run just one clock off of that, it’s like taking a dump truck full of sand and trying to fill a thimble,” Simons said. “It’s just so overpowered. So what I had to do was make a whole bunch of extra air tanks, if you will, to make up for that volume. And that was experimental.”

Pneumatic clocks are not likely to appear on any shelves in Walmart or Target. Combined with the fact many are ultimately electrified to have them in working order, Sparks said there is something interesting about keeping its air system in place. He still wonders how someone thought of this system 100 years ago.

“The knowledge it took to do that with very little tools or whatever it is that they had,” Sparks said. “How did one think of that? How did one even make that happen after they thought of that? So to have a gentleman that understands clocks and clock movements is invaluable.”

Sparks has a love for the courthouse and its history. Although he wants to keep the building update to date, he also wants to preserve its original character.

“If we can find the people to bring something back to its original state, I don’t see anything neater than that,” he said. “It’s just amazing.”