A grassroots movement is under way to restore and preserve Atlanta's oldest fire bell, a relic from the 1860s that leaders say is sitting exposed to the elements and "forgotten" in Castleberry Hill. Forged in the wake of the Civil War, the 1,995-pound bell tolled at Atlanta fires, funerals and celebrations for more than four decades (until telephones made its beckoning sound obsolete), but it now sits idly decaying outside Fire Station No. 1 on Elliot Street. "The old fire bell is not in danger," its supporters write, "but it is forgotten, and forgotten things are one step away from disappearing altogether."
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