The Atlantic Coast Line clock is seen on a pillar in this 1915 postcard. (Courtesy New Hanover County Public Library)
According to Mark Koenig, executive director of the Wilmington Railroad Museum, 505 Nutt St., Wilmington [Map this], the clock was apparently destroyed at the time the old Union Station building was demolished on July 11, 1970. There’s no record of it being salvaged. A photo in the museum’s files shows the clock toppled on the street.
As the writer noted, the multifaced clock stood on top of a pillar on the concourse next to Union Station, between the Atlantic Coast Line’s “A” and “B” office buildings, at Front and Red Cross streets.
Apparently, it was erected about the time the six-story Union Station was completed in 1913. Beverly Tetterton’s “Wilmington: Lost But Not Forgotten” reprints a 1915 postcard showing the clock in place.
It was, noted Tetterton, a “city landmark” for decades.
Incidentally, the Atlanta demolition firm hired for the job needed 300 explosive charges to bring down Union Station.
Related links:
Will Wilmington ever get passenger train service?
Date posted: October 27, 2010
User-contributed question by:
Bill Creasy
I think the clock was between Bldg. B and Bldg. C, not between Bldg. A and Bldg. B.
http://www.wilmington-nc.com/tours/Antique_Postcard/wilmington-nc-postcard-0600.php — the photo shows the clock and Bldg. C is to the right of the clock.