115-Year-Old Bell Rings Again In Chula Vista

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- It took some detective work and a little bit of trading, but a historic school bell has been returned to Chula Vista.

The school where it was used is long gone, but the 115-year-old bell is back where it started.

Chula Vista is the second largest city in the county and it continues to grow.

But at the turn of the century, life moved at a slower pace. Instead of houses, there were lemon trees.

"They had 60,000 lemon trees in Chula Vista. There were five square miles of lemon orchards and orchard homes, which are still around today in the community," said historian Frank Roseman.

But as the area began to grow, a school was needed as was a bell to ring the start of class.

But the bell has been away from the site of the old school house for nearly a half century.

When the school closed in 1916, the bell was moved next door to a church, where it stayed until 1959, 10News reported.

"This was really the Liberty Bell of Chula Vista," said County Supervisor Greg Cox.

The effort to get the bell back started in 1986 when Cox was Chula Vista's mayor.

The bell ended up at a camp in Riverside County, which didn't want to give it up.

"We took some county project funds and gave it to the Historical Society. They purchased a replacement bell, and they were basically able to do a swap," said Cox.

The bell has now come full circle and history students can now actually see and study it.

"They used to ring it for the kids to go in. It's really important," said student Vianna Gallardo.

The bell along with historic photographs will be on permanent display at the Norman Park Center -- the original site of the school house.