The Detroit Historical Museum is chock full of historical items, but one of the museum's favorites has been gone for a while and it's finally back!
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The Meier clock has amazed Detroiters for generations, and has been a mainstay at the historical museum for 30 years. But it was vandalized last year and it has taken a year and 1/2 to restore it.
Louis Meier started work on the clock in 1892, finished it in 1904, then displayed it in his jewelry store at East Grand Boulevard and Gratiot Avenue. After Meier's death in 1945, it was moved to the Louis Meier Gear Company in East Detroit.
Meier's son, Frank, was also a clock-maker, but after he died in 1971 there were no other clock-makers in the family. So in 1982, the family made a decision.
"We decided it's not a fitting place, other people should see the clock, so the clock was donated to the Detroit Historical Society," said Louis Meier's great grandson, Thomas Meier.
The Meier clock's technology is unbelievable.
"The clock runs off of one mechanism. All of the dials and all of the time zones displayed on the clock run off of one single mechanism," said Thomas Meier. "The globe that you see here rotates 24 hours, so what you see is noontime. The moon phases are accurate to the moon phases of 29 days, whatever they are."
Museum curator Adam Lovell marvels at Louis Meier's creation.
"My appreciation for this clock has expanded a hundred times," said Lovell. "Now that I've seen the intricacy and ingenuity that's gone into putting this marvelous piece together, it's really become one of the jewels of the collection."
The Meier clock is back on permanent display starting Saturday, Oct. 26, so come on down and check out one of Detroit's most precious historic items!