The Spitz Clock on the Plaza South Side

1966 - Time Flies

If you’re in downtown Santa Fe and you want to know what time it is, just check the Spitz Clock on the northwest corner of the Plaza. It’s a Santa Fe landmark but it wasn't on that corner in the beginning.

In 1881, that tall street clock was first installed in front of the Spitz jewelry Store on the south side of the Plaza by the original owner, Salomon Spitz, a German immigrant merchant. The original clock didn't tell the time; it had no works. But Mr. Spitz replaced it with a working clock around 1900.

In 1916, the clock was knocked down by one of Santa Fe's earliest motorists. The replacement clock, installed the same year, was maintained for years by his son Bernard who took over the jewelry store in 1927.

When he turned 70, Bernard Spitz closed the jewelry store on the Plaza and opened another in the Coronado Shopping Center. But what to do about that tall street clock in front of his old store? Well, in 1966, in a quiet ceremony, Bernard Spitz presented the Clock to the City of Santa Fe and handed Mayor Pat Hollis the winding key.

The clock disappeared while the south side of the plaza was undergoing renovation to add a portal but the clock was reinstalled on the corner of Palace and Lincoln – where it stands today – in 1974.

To keep perfect time, the clock was wound every week by a man who had to climb a ladder to get to the clockworks. In 1964, it was repaired and, in the process, the clockworks were conveniently re-located to the base of the clock. Today, the city parks worker who winds the clock every five days or so no longer needs the ladder.