The Butt family purchased the historic Sierra City School in 2022. It served as the town’s public school from 1883 until 1952, when an avalanche blew out the front wall, and its remaining six students were subsequently moved, first to the local Masonic Lodge and later 12 miles down the mountain to Downieville. Sometime thereafter the school bell and its belfry were removed, and the bell resided in the nearby Kentucky Mine Museum for decades. The school went into private ownership.


Figure 1 - Sierra City School with bell and belfry

In 2023, the Sierra City School was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Sierra County Historical Society, which manages the Kentucky Mine Museum, agreed to return the bell to the schoolhouse if the belfry was reconstructed. The challenge was accepted. The Fall-Winter edition of The Sierran tells the history of the school and the plan to reinstall the bell.




The belfry was built in the Butt’s backyard in Point Richmond and transported to Sierra City on July 3, 2024. The bell was removed from the Kentucky Mine Museum and installed in the belfry. Scaffolding was erected to access the schoolhouse roof and prepare the structure to support the bell and belfry, which weighs about 800 lbs.

The bell experienced a lot of ringing after being placed in the belfry to make sure it was working properly.

On July 29, 2024, a crane coming from Auburn will lift the bell and belfry into place, completing a cycle of history that began 141 years ago!

Figure 2 - Bell and belfry ready for lift

Figure 3 - Removing the bell from the Kentucky Mine Museum

Figure 4 - The bell ready for transport to the schoolhouse

Figure 5 - Scaffolding to access the roof of the schoolhouse