Centennial Clock

From its construction in 1925 to its destruction in 1953, a fountain located north of Old Main added beauty to the campus of Northern Arizona State Teachers College. It allowed students and faculty a peaceful location for study or relaxation with a spectacular view of the San Francisco Peaks.

The location gained notoriety on January 11, 1953. At approximately 11:00pm, students William Winthrop, Thomas Guthrie, and Robert Amann blew up the fountain with fifteen sticks of dynamite. The blast broke over 100 windows in Old Main, the North Union, the Ashurst Building, and Bury, Morton, and Taylor Halls. After they confessed to the crime, the administration permanently expelled them.

The school eventually reconstructed the fountain into a planter, which still exists today. To commemorate the school's centennial, in 1999 Northern Arizona University installed a four-sided pedestal clock in the planter where the fountain once stood. Surrounding the clock are bricks bearing the names of NAU alumni and donors.