Using a  Terex T340 Ton Hydraulic Truck Crane with an approximate tip height of 145 feet Bob’s Crane Service removed the historic bells.
The wrecking ball will soon fall on historic St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Muscatine. When the church was built in 1876, there were no bells or a clock in the tower.
On April 10, 1889, the bells were purchased for $414 and installed. The clock with striking chimes was purchased in 1905 after a series of lawn socials to raise money to pay for it.
The bells will be stored for future disposition.
For many years the Angelus was rung by hand twice a day.
Parishioners in Muscatine have saved three bells that chimed for more than a century in a church now slated for demolition.
The Muscatine Journal reports a crane was used Wednesday to remove the bells from St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
St. Mary’s was built in 1876, and the bells were added 13 years later.
Parishioners pooled together their money to buy the bells, windows, lights and other material that could be salvaged from the church.
Concerns about the strength of the church’s floor led to the decision to close the brick building and consolidate the parish with St. Mathias Catholic Church.
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