Bordentown, New Jersey

This was Bordentown’s second town hall, constructed of brick with stone trim in 1888. The Romanesque-inspired building is distinguished by its wooden clock tower containing a clock by premiere American clock-maker Seth Thomas. The clock tower is dedicated to William F. Allen, a Bordentown native who created standard time in the United States. In the 19th century each new railroad used its own time, published in its schedules. This worked fine unless the line ran into a city that served other lines; Pittsburgh, for instance had to post information in its main station for six different times. Allen, the editor of the Traveler’s Official Railway Guide, drew up the plan for “standard time” by running the borders through existing major cities.  It was inaugurated on Sunday, November 18, 1883, also called “The Day of Two Noons”, when each railroad station clock was reset as standard-time noon was reached within each time zone.