Pocket watch production at the Elgin National Watch Company began in 1867, and the factory on National Street at the south end of Grove Avenue grew in stages until by 1920 it was the largest watchmaking complex in the world, ultimately producing more than 54 million timepieces. For almost 100 years, Elgin Watch was Elgin's biggest industry, employing 4,000 workers at its peak in the 1920s. The bell, cast by the McShane Bell Foundry of Baltimore in 1887 and installed as part of the 1905 reconstruction, was paired with a four-sided Seth Thomas clock in the 144-foot tower at the factory entrance. It marked daily time periods for factory workers and the Elgin community, sounding 78 strokes at 6:00 a.m. to awaken workers, 37 strokes at 6:30 a.m. as a reminder, a single stroke at 7:00 a.m. to begin the work day, rings for the noon break and return to work, and traditionally three strokes at the end of the day. By the late 1920s, the factory's steam whistle replaced the bell, and its regular use ceased in 1931. It was rung again during the company's 75th anniversary celebration in 1939, and on August 23, 1965, it sounded three strokes for the last time, marking the traditional end of work for the entire factory. The clock tower was dynamited on Sunday morning, October 2, 1966, and the bell was recovered from the ruins.