New steeple installed at St. John’s Episcopal Church

BROWNVILLE JUNCTION — On Jan. 26 a crew and equipment arrived at St. John’s Episcopal Church from J. M. Brown General Contractors of Hermon. Their purpose was to install a new steeple on the church. According to some of the local people, the equipment and the project created a bit of a stir in the village.

Late last fall there was some serious leakage in the area of the church’s belfry and emergency repairs were undertaken but were unsuccessful. The Bishop’s Committee, at the suggestion of Paul Bradeen, looked at replacing a steeple as part of the repair project.

When the church was built in 1897 it had quite a tall steeple. In fact, aside from some of the structures connected with the railroad, it was probably the tallest building in town. In 1944 there was a fire on the town’s main street and flames from that fire reached the steeple of St. John’s and when repairs were made the steeple was no more.

The new structure is not as tall as the original but the design of the steeple and the new cross replicate the original.

Funding for the project included many generous donations from church members, former members and friends.

The St. John’s Episcopal Church steeple in the early 20th century

The St. John’s Episcopal Church after the 1944 fire

The St. John’s Episcopal Church with the new steeple