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All the United States New Jersey Jersey City The Colgate Clock

The Colgate Clock

On the Hudson resides one of the largest clocks in the world.

Jersey City, New Jersey

Added By
Brook Wilensky-Lanford
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At night, dwarfed by the Goldman Sachs building. (Wikimedia Commons)   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgate_Clock...
The Colgate Clock up close. (Brook Wilensky-Lanford/Atlas Obscura)   Brook WilenskyLanford / Atlas Obscura User
  Andriy Boychuk
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Among the crowded field of landmarks visible along New York Harbor- the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Verrazano Bridge - the Colgate Clock may not rank high in historical significance. But at night you can see its giant neon-red hands along the New Jersey side of the Hudson River from miles away.

According to a history of the clock compiled by New Jersey City University, the clock is a 1924 replacement for the original 1908 steel clock face, which stood atop the Colgate-Palmolive factory in Jersey City all the way up until the 1980s. When the Colgate headquarters was razed to make room for the new Goldman Sachs Building, New Jersey preserved the clock, which now rests on an empty lot, leased to Colgate-Palmolive by the state of New Jersey, and maintained by Goldman Sachs.

Though it's often billed as the world's largest clock in tourism literature, Wikipedia now places it in the ninth spot worldwide. The surface of the clock is 1,963.5 square feet and 50 feet in diameter. The minute hand is 25 feet 10 inches long; the hour hand is 20 feet long. The timepiece can be adjusted and is maintained to stay within one minute of accurate time.

Related Tags

Inventions Astounding Timepieces Neon Clocks Signs World's Largest

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Reachable from the PATH train at Exchange Place; follow Essex Street east until you see the Hudson, the clock will be on your right.

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Added By

Brook WilenskyLanford

Edited By

myaburns41, aboychuk, chasepopt

  • myaburns41
  • aboychuk
  • chasepopt

Published

June 15, 2011

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  • Wikipedia: Colgate Clock (New Jersey): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgate_Clock_%28New_Jersey%29
The Colgate Clock
Goldman Sachs Building
1 Essex Street
Jersey City, New Jersey, 07302
United States
40.712028, -74.033889
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