Cast by John Wilbank, this bell first rang in 1828, when John Quincy Adams was President of the United States, after being hauled over dirt roads from Philadelphia to the Clark County Courthouse in Springfield, Ohio. The 200-pound bell served there for the next 50 years until the courthouse was torn down in 1878. It later came into the hands of a junk dealer in Toledo and was bought by the treasurer of the Anna School District in 1883 for $60. Installed on the roof of the Anna School Building and left completely unprotected from the elements, it rang on the first day of school each year for many years until its age made further ringing too risky. The bell survived a lightning strike in Springfield and the Anna Earthquakes, and it now hangs protected and secured in a tower to welcome future generations and honor those who leave, as a testament to the community's pride in the history and tradition of excellence of the Anna Local Schools.