Barthman Sidewalk Clock

In downtown Manhattan, on the east (northeast) corner of Maiden Lane and Broadway is an antique clock installed into the sidewalk.

This clock is actually a replacement from 1940, but the original was created by William Barthman, who opened Barthman Jewelers on the same corner in 1884.
He had the idea to place a clock at the spot in 1896, as a simple form of advertising, and had it instituted in 1899.
In 1928, the Maiden Lane Historical Society (which was established in 1911, but is no longer around) pronounced the spot as a landmark...

...though the building has now seen better days.

By 1930, the clock's maintenance man, and co-designer, Frank Homm, passed away, and left no instructions for its care. It had ceased to function, and was even covered by cardboard for almost a decade, before the jewelry store decided to replace it in 1939.
I walked the area a bit more, as there was plenty to take photos, and write, of, but I'll leave the info and pics for my next post, and just finish off with a decent image I took minutes later.