The bell on the Olde Towne Depot grounds was originally mounted on the first train to pass through Clinton in the spring of 1840 and would have been rung to alert people and animals of the train’s approach.

Whistles replaced bells as signals, and the bell was designated surplus inventory and stored in Vicksburg.

Between 1926 and 1927, the Clinton Methodist Church with the help of John Fox, railroad agent for Clinton, and Mrs. Ann Powers Wood, wife of long-time mayor Dr. A. E. Wood, acquired the historic bell to hang in the bell tower on its property at the corner of Main and Monroe Streets.  When the church relocated to Highway 80 and Mt. Salus Drive in 1992, the bell was hung in the tower adjacent to the sanctuary.

In January 2018, the Trustees of the First United Methodist Church of Clinton, recognizing the shared legacy of their church bell and the people of Clinton, voted to loan the bell to the City of Clinton to be displayed at the Olde Towne Depot.