San Antonio's iconic Hertzberg Clock is back on time

Flashback: It was installed outside the Eli Hertzberg Jewelry Co. on Commerce Street in 1878, Conservation Society of San Antonio librarian Beth Standifird tells Axios.

• In 1910, the company and the clock moved to the current location at the corner of East Houston and North St. Mary's streets.
• Zales bought the company and relocated it to the suburbs in 1964, but the clock stayed behind. Heirs of the Goodman family, who long owned the shop, donated the clock to the Conservation Society in 1982.

The intrigue: The key-wound clock — powered mechanically rather than electrically — had been nonfunctional since 2022, per TPR.

What they did: The Conservation Society's preservation specialist and properties manager, Brandi Hayes, searched for someone with the specialized skills needed to fabricate new parts for the antique clock. That search led to New Braunfels clock restorer Benny Courtney, who began work earlier this year and finished the restoration in recent months, Standifird says.

• The Conservation Society hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate the restoration.

Zoom out: The Hertzberg clock is among a small number of functioning antique street clocks in the U.S., TPR found. A comparable example is a 14-foot-tall cast-iron clock from the early 1900s that was restored and installed in 2020 in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood.

What they're saying: "It is great that the Hertzberg clock once again accurately serves San Antonio as the place to meet," Conservation Society president Lewis Vetter said in a statement.