Frank Herschede operated a jewelry store in Cincinnati, Ohio and began selling hall clocks in 1885. The clocks had imported mechanisms in locally manufactured cases. Herschede won a gold medal, the first of several such awards, when he exhibited his hall clocks at the South Carolina and West Indies Exposition, held in Charleston, SC in 1901. In 1902, the clock business was incorporated under the name of Herschede Hall Clock. Frank’s brother, John A., acted as the general manager and salesman for the firm. Frank’s son, Walter J., joined the business in 1902.
The Herschede Hall Clock company moved to Plum Street in 1903. A few years later, the company began manufacturing its own clock movements. The cases and the movements won awards at several expositions and were sold across the country. The company built a new plant at the corner of McMillan Street and Essex Place in 1913. The company also began offering a third melody, the Canterbury Chimes, in addition to the two tunes that had been offered from the beginning, the Westminster and the Whittington Chimes.
During World War I, the clock mechanisms, which were the only ones made in the United States, were in high demand because the American market was cut off from European manufacturers. On September 15, 1922, Frank Herschede, the founder of the company, died at the age of 65, following an operation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Walter succeeded his father as president and experimented with the production of radios and other items. The company began selling electric clocks in 1926 under the name of the Revere Clock Company.
During World War II, the production of clocks was stopped, so the company obtained government contracts to produce observation instruments. William Foy Herschede organized the Panocular Corporation to make the lenses. After the war, demand was high for clocks, and production began again on consumer products. A Clock Service Center was established in 1948 to improve the efficiency of the company’s repair service.
During the following years, Herschede Hall Clock began importing clock mechanisms, and complete clocks which were sold under the Herschede name. Due to labor, taxes and other expenses, the Herschede Hall Clock Company began considering the possible advantages of moving the company to a new location.
In 1960, the company moved into a new plant in Starkville, Mississippi, where it continued the manufacture of clock movements and cases as well as importing German clock movements. In 1962, Walter J. retired as president and was succeeded by his son, Richard. Walter J. Herschede died two years later at the age of 79.
In 1972, Herschede Hall Clock merged with Howard Furniture and Briarwood Lamps to form Arnold Industries, Inc.