ELLSWORTH – The steeple of the 1886 Second Baptist Church held a heavy, historic bell produced by a foundry in Lexington, Ky., but the steeple was obviously deteriorating.

The amount of work needed on the structure, which sits on the grounds of Ellsworth County Historical Society’s Hodgden House Museum complex, wasn’t fully known until workmen got up on a lift. They found the whole structure was wobbly.

A Hansen Foundation grant helped pay to have deteriorating wood removed and interior wooden supports added to the whole structure.  Exterior PVC boards, which will require no painting for at least thirty years, were used on the facia of the steeple. The interior areas were repaired, primed and painted.  The steeple looks original to the time period but now has strength and sustainability.