Summerside's War Effort During WWII

The clock tower was added to the Post Office building in 1914. It quickly became a prominent landmark and still today is seen as a symbol of the town. Downtown Summerside Inc. adopted a stylized version of it in 2003 as its logo.

In November 1942, the town clock was blacked out as an air raid precaution. However by the end of 1943, some members of the public began to complain about not being able to see the clock at night. It had come to their attention that the people in Charlottetown and in other Maritime cities were not similarly inconvenienced. The Board of Trade decided to write to the local Member of Parliament, Hon. J. L. Ralston about the situation. At some point thereafter the perceived problem was rectified and the clock was once more illuminated.

In 1945, a verse "To the Old Town Clock" appeared in the Summerside Journal. It summed up the feeling of many citizens toward this long-standing symbol of the community.