History of
Brownell Memorial Park
and Carillon Tower
The Brownell Memorial Park and Campanile is the gift of Mrs. Claire Horatio Brownell, a member of one of Louisiana's pioneer families.
Mrs. Brownell was always devoted to the land which contributed so much to her family's comfort and welfare. In order to show her gratefulness, she conceived the idea of perpetuating the serenity, beauty and abundance of the swamp through development of a quiet park, native to the area. It was her wish that the park be a nondenominational setting retaining its wild atmosphere, where a person might retreat to commune with God.
The 9.5 acre park shows the many various plants and trees that grow abundantly wild along the ridges of these swamps - palmettos, elephant ears, cattails, fern, many varieties of iris and other flowers, moss-laden oaks, berry vines, cypress, and tupelo.
The Carillon Tower
Because of her aroused interest in musical bells, Mrs. Brownell elected to install a carillon as a focal point of the park. Rising to a height of 106 feet above its base, the carillon tower, with its smooth, simple lines, stands in elegant contrast to its "pure nature" surroundings. The all-welded steel-and-concrete tower houses one of the world's largest and finest cast-bell carillons. The 61 bronze bells, which were cast in Holland, represent five full octaves and range in weight from 18 pounds to 4730 pounds. Each bell is simply embellished with a band of ivy vines around the crown. The largest (bourdon) bell contains the inscription: