Bethlehem Foundry & Machine Company Sundial 19th Century

Bethlehem Foundry & Machine Company Sundial

A sundial uses local time. Before the coming of the railways in the 1840s, local time was displayed on a sundial and was used by the government and commerce. Before the invention of the clock the sundial was the only source of time. After the invention of the clock, the sundial maintained its importance, as clocks needed to be reset regularly from a sundial, because the accuracy of early clocks was poor. A clock and a sundial were used together to measure longitude. -wiki

We believe this sundial was prominently displayed in a public space as a useful, practical advertisement for the old company.

(Contemporary Custom Sculpture Stand made by Local Blacksmith.)

Bethlehem Foundry & Machine Company

1865 - 1915
(Origin: 1832)
Among the first industries of South Bethlehem that grew from a small shop into world-wide enterprises is one that stands among the first in this town. The Lehigh Valley Brass Works erected in the fall of 1863 by the proprietor, Mr. B. E. Lehman. The business carried on by him was established by his father, Ernst L. Lehman, in the year 1832, when the old town of Bethlehem was a village where he built the first complete brass foundry in this part of the country, and carried on that business, in connection with a coppersmith-shop for a period of twenty-five years, until his death, in 1857. His son, Mr. B. E. Lehman, then took charge of the business, which began to increase, to an extent that compelled the erection of the shops in South Bethlehem, known as the Lehigh Valley Brass Works, moved from the site in 1863, according to published histories. They relocated to the south side of the Lehigh River where it became the Bethlehem Foundry and Machine Shop. First & Largest in special line of brass production, iron-fittings for steam, water and gas, engine brass-work, stop-valves for water-mains. A number of specialties are pioneered & manufactured here adapted for iron and steel-works and furnaces as well as cement.The standard of excellence added greatly to the success and reputation of the establishment throughout the coal & iron regions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey & adjoining states during that time.