Want to see the Liberty Bell in time for America’s 250th birthday? Good news: You don’t have to go all the way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There’s a good chance you can find a Liberty Bell replica close to home. Maybe as close as your State House or state Capitol building. Maybe even as nearby as your local fire station.

It won’t be the original Liberty Bell, of course. But it’ll be a dead ringer. (Forgive the bell pun. A dead ringer is a thing that looks just like another thing.)

What Is the Liberty Bell? 

The original Liberty Bell stands in the Liberty Bell Center, next to the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. The bell once hung in that building, which is also known as Independence Hall. People first rang the bell in the 1750s—before the United States was even a country. And guess what? It cracked! After that, people melted the bell. Then they cast it again. 

But if you visit the bell today, you’ll notice: It’s also cracked. Majorly cracked.

Historians aren’t sure exactly how many times the bell cracked. But many think the final damage came in 1846. It hasn’t rung since.

Bell Hunters-R-Us

As a boy, Tom Campbell lived in Philadelphia. He visited the original Liberty Bell. 

Now he lives in Colorado. He’s on a mission to visit all the Liberty Bells. 

 In 1950, the U.S. Treasury Department paid to make copies of the famously broken bell. A growing group of “bell hunters” travel to find as many bells as possible. Tom Campbell is the ringleader. (Sorry—another bell pun.)

And do bell hunters check every single bell off their list?

Nope. 

It’s nearly impossible. Three replicas are totally unavailable to the public this year. One of them is Pennsylvania’s!

Why? America turns 250 this year. Like the Liberty Bell, America is not perfect. And we love it even so.