Like many Australian towns, in 1899 to 1900, the Siege of Mafeking was avidly followed in the news in Mount Morgan. With every confidence in a British victory, in March 1900, the town's people decided to prepare to celebrate the relief of Mafeking as soon as it was announced. The town band was to assemble immediately on the corner of East and Morgan Streets and other entertainments were arranged, such as a bonfire and a greasy pig. On 20 May 1900, on hearing the news of the relief of Mafeking, bonfires were lit on the hills around the town, the bands were playing, and patriotic speeches were made. The celebrations did not end there, as by November 1900, a "Mafeking" bell had been installed in a tower beside the town hall. The bell had been cast at the Mount Morgan Mine and weighed 7 cwt (360 kg). The sound of the bell was described as "blood curdling" and led to arguments as to whether the bell was cracked. By 1955, the wooden tower had rotted and the bell was taken down to be relocated to the verandah of the town hall. In 1969 the bell was relocated to the scout hall in Dee Street as the army leader at Mafekin was Lord Baden-Powell who established the Scouting movement in 1907. In February 2018, the bell was returned to the main street of Mount Morgan as part of a streetscape redevelopment project. There is a popular story that the schoolchildren of Mount Isa funded the bell by donating pennies (either to pay for it or to be melted down to construct it), but the earliest sources so far identified for this story are from 1955, 55 years after the bell was cast, and the commemorative plaque which also presents this story was not created until 1962.