STEEPLE STUDIES
The images below come from stereo views and post cards from the Walpole history collection of Ray Boas. They have been assembled here to provide views of the facade and steeple of the church from prior to 1870 to about 1950.
This is the earliest view I have found of the church, taken from the Town House Observatory, prior to the raising of the church in 1873,
this second stereo view is from the 1870s after the church was raised and the lower level added. Comparing both images, it appears that the original two doors were removed, as well as the uniform center window – replaced as below with three windows on the now upper level.
Below is my earliest postcard of the church – an Undivided Back (pre-1907) never mailed.
a reprint/reissue of the above card (this happened often with the same image reused by the same or different publishers). Written in pencil on the front is 1909. Cropped some from the above, but this card shows the steeple with more detail.
It would be interesting to know if the church was painted this color at the time — or if just one of the often taken liberties of postcard publishers. Mailed by Alice M. Fuller (telling of her attending church here) in 1913.
Below is probably my best view of the weathervane.
And, these two final cards are Real Photo Post Cards (RPPC) from the 1950s.
RAY BOAS — 10 April 2022
The Walpole Clarion 