| Additional Information: | SOS!21/9-20. See SOS! files at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. for more information.
Previously surveyed in 1993.
[2004] - The Shopiere Clock sits on a fluted metal column with a composite Ionic-Corinthian capital. The column sits on a tall stone base that is inscribed on four sides. It, in turn, sits on a tiered concrete foundation. The large clock has four faces measuring 42 inches in diameter with 36 inch diameter dials. The entire clock is 19 and one-half feet tall. The clock faces are each identically decorated with classical motifs and the clock is topped with a classical finial. There are four inscriptions on the clock base. Side one reads, "Lester F. Butler Memorial, Corp. Lester F. Butler, Co. L, 127th Infantry, 32nd Division, born October 11, 1886, killed in action August 4, 1918, Fismes, France." Side 2 reads, "In honor of veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865." Side 3 reads, "In honor of the Spanish American War and our other wars." Side 4 reads, "In honor of the soldiers, sailors and marines of the World War 1914-1919." In 1985, the clock was given a major rehabilitation and it exists today as a unique war memorial.
This is a memorial to the local veterans of three wars and specifically Lester F. Butler, who died in World War I. According to information from the Rock County Veterans' Memorial Directory provided by the Beloit Historical Society, this clock was built in 1919 by the Seth Thomas Company from a 1907 clock design. In 1920, the clock was erected as a memorial for Butler, who died in France in 1918. Additional inscriptions related to other wars were also added. The four-faced clock used to sit in the middle of the road in Shopiere, but was moved here in 1926 for safety reasons. Restored in 1985. |
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