On Thursday, August 28, a crowd gathered in the historic downtown section of Marblehead to watch as a new steeple was placed atop St. Michael’s Church.  The Episcopal church was founded in 1714 and originally had a wooden steeple above the building but decay led to its removal in 1793.  I was disappointed that I would miss the steeple rising that took place on that Thursday but was thrilled when I heard from one of its officers who invited me up the scaffolding for a closer view of the steeple as well as the temporary ‘rooftop’ view.

We met at St. Michael’s Church and climbed the scaffolding together on Friday night on what had promised to be a cloudless night.  I had little hope for a good image but thought I would use this as a scouting trip to figure out a good time to review to this vantage point.  Upon reaching the top, I was greeted by this huge steeple fabricated of aluminum and steel.  The light pulled my eyes to the other buildings surrounding us though and I quickly moved from one end of the scaffolding to the other capturing view that I could share in my ‘From the Rooftop’ series.

As the yacht club cannons fired to signal sunset, wispy clouds approached and we were treated to a subtle but beautiful sunset.  Steve helped me as I frantically changed to my widest angle lens hoping to capture the full height of the impressive new steeple for St. Michael’s Church – all feet of it.  I had to fight the steel scaffolding and the laws of perspective to achieve the final image of the steeple reflecting the colors of sunset with the Grace Community Church and Marblehead Light serving as backdrops in the beautiful evening light.

I think it was worth the more than 200 year wait to see this steeple dotting the skyline of Marblehead.