The official school bell of St. Louis Park was said to have started its life on a showboat, traversing the Mississippi River. It is unknown when it came to St. Louis Park, but it was used at Lincoln School, which was built in 1889. Pictures show a bell tower on the rear west side of the school. A janitor pulled the rope, calling students to class and signaling the end of the day. When the first Central building was built in 1914 (since torn down and replaced), the bell stayed at Lincoln School, but when the new high school at Central was built in 1937, the bell was moved to the steps in the front of that building. (Ethel Baston had a major role in having the bell moved.) The bell was not secure in this location; every year the graduating class (or one of its rivals) would steal it and the custodians and staff had to go find it. One unfortunate destination was the pond on Interlachen golf course. In May 1955 it was stolen and weeks later found in Spit Lake in Edina. It was returned to its home and promptly stolen again. Eventually the administration solved the problem by storing it in Central’s basement. When the current High School was built in 1956, the bell was apparently still stored at Central, until the Class of 1960 started a campaign to find it a better home. It was brought back for an assembly in June of 1961 but stored away again. With their parents, the Class of 1963 had the bell bronzed and placed on a slab of polished marble in the showcase in the first floor circle in the fall of 1962. During the 1993 remodeling it was moved to the auditorium foyer.
