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Watertown Bell Foundry

Watertown Bell Foundry

Creator:
Colorized tinted photographic postcard showing Lewis Street in Watertown, c.1909.
Tinted photographic postcard showing Lewis Street in Watertown, c.1909.

For thirty years, William Bleedorn was one of only a few cow bell manufacturers in the United States. Between 1863 and 1885, his foundry in Carver County produced thousands of bells that were used by farmers across the country.

Bleedorn was born in Prussia in 1835. In 1853, he arrived in the United States and settled in Wisconsin, where he lived for ten years. He married Minnie Schroeder in 1857. The couple would go on to have seven children.

In 1863, Bleedorn registered for the draft. At the time, he was living in Watertown—then a small hamlet near the northern border of Carver County. Bleedorn did not begin his military service until 1865, when he served a total of four months and ten days with Company D of the First Battalion, Minnesota Infantry.

Bleedorn opened the Watertown Bell Foundry in 1864 in downtown Watertown. The community grew rapidly during the 1870s and was incorporated as a village in 1877.

Bleedorn found a unique and in-demand trade: manufacturing cow bells. He established a production process in which he cut out and shaped each of his bells individually from sheet metal he had shipped to himself.

Each of Bleedorn’s bells was made to produce a slightly different sound. Farmers who did not fence in their fields could locate their free-roaming cattle quickly by listening for the unique tones of their bells.

When Bleedorn began his foundry, it was one of only three in the country. He was the only cow bell manufacturer in Minnesota.

During the mid-1870s, a planned railroad that would have served Watertown was rerouted. This was a major disappointment for the city, which missed out on the business opportunities that would have been made possible by rail service. Despite this setback, the Watertown Bell Foundry continued to succeed. By 1882, the foundry was reported to have been producing between three thousand and five thousand bells each year.

The foundry closed in 1885. Bleedorn continued to live in Carver County until his death in 1913.

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Marshall, Lindsay. "Watertown Bell Foundry." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. https://www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/place/watertown-bell-foundry
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First Published: May 18, 2015
Last Modified: April 10, 2025

Bibliography

“Bell Factory Once Flourished In Watertown.” Watertown Carver County News, May 9, 1935.

Fawcett, Lois M. “Some Early Minnesota Bells.” Minnesota History 18, no. 4 (December 1937): 371–380.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/18/v18i04p371-380.pdf

Holcombe, Maj. R.I., ed. Compendium of History and Biography of Carver and Hennepin Counties, Minnesota. Chicago: Henry Taylor and Company, 1915.

“Old Settlers.” Watertown Carver County News, October 7, 1926.

Related Resources

Secondary

Tremblay, Ruth, and Lois Schulstad. Images of America: Carver County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2011.

Warner, George E., and Charles M. Foote, comps. “Carver County.” In History of the Minnesota Valley: Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, 352–410, edited by Robert Edward Neil. Minneapolis: North Star, 1882.
https://books.google.com/books?id=GGdAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA384&lpg=PA384&dq=watertown+bell+foundry&source=bl&ots=9M22mwY3nw&sig=iLnzQYL0H-WKwbaAoANcIX_VtHY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ui33VIbFFZasyATS-4D4BQ&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=watertown%20bell%20foundry&f=false

Watertown Centennial: 1856–1956. Watertown, MN: Watertown Activities, 1956.

Related Images

Colorized tinted photographic postcard showing Lewis Street in Watertown, c.1909.
Tinted photographic postcard showing Lewis Street in Watertown, c.1909.
Colorized tinted photographic postcard showing Lewis Street in Watertown, c.1909.

Lewis Street, Watertown

Tinted photographic postcard showing Lewis Street in Watertown, c.1909.

Public domain

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society

Articles

More Information

Turning Point

In 1864, William Bleedorn opens the Watertown Bell Foundry. At the time, it is one of only a few manufacturers of cow bells in the United States.

Chronology

1835
Bleedorn is born in Prussia (now Germany) on November 26.
1853
Bleedorn arrives in the United States and settles in Wisconsin.
1857
Bleedorn marries Minnie Schroeder.
1863
Bleedorn moves to Watertown.
1863
Bleedorn registers for the draft.
1864
Bleedorn establishes the Watertown Bell Foundry.
1865
William serves for four months in Company D of the First Battalion, Minnesota Infantry.
1885
Watertown Bell Foundry closes.
1913
Bleedorn dies on April 12.

Bibliography

“Bell Factory Once Flourished In Watertown.” Watertown Carver County News, May 9, 1935.

Fawcett, Lois M. “Some Early Minnesota Bells.” Minnesota History 18, no. 4 (December 1937): 371–380.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/18/v18i04p371-380.pdf

Holcombe, Maj. R.I., ed. Compendium of History and Biography of Carver and Hennepin Counties, Minnesota. Chicago: Henry Taylor and Company, 1915.

“Old Settlers.” Watertown Carver County News, October 7, 1926.

Related Resources

Secondary

Tremblay, Ruth, and Lois Schulstad. Images of America: Carver County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2011.

Warner, George E., and Charles M. Foote, comps. “Carver County.” In History of the Minnesota Valley: Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, 352–410, edited by Robert Edward Neil. Minneapolis: North Star, 1882.
https://books.google.com/books?id=GGdAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA384&lpg=PA384&dq=watertown+bell+foundry&source=bl&ots=9M22mwY3nw&sig=iLnzQYL0H-WKwbaAoANcIX_VtHY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ui33VIbFFZasyATS-4D4BQ&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=watertown%20bell%20foundry&f=false

Watertown Centennial: 1856–1956. Watertown, MN: Watertown Activities, 1956.