off the beaten path

on our way back from Easter with my in-laws

{have i ever told you how much i love them?}

my husband pulled off the windy road and said "let me show you an old company town"

this old church was built in 1852

{lucky for us, a friendly woman needed to practice her Easter solo so the church was open}

"the company built the town and everyone who worked for the company lived here...the company paid them in "script" -- kind of monopoly money that could only be used at the company store," explained my husband

the church was built as an "advertisement" for the reddish-tan bricks the workers pulled out of the furnaces everyday

{this door had to be 12 feet tall!}

everything in the church is original...the members run a soup "restaurant" during the winter months to pay for upkeep

the town is somewhat depressed now

the brick factory is long gone

the canal is dried up....

i told my husband i'd love to buy an original home there someday

{there are a few for sale}

fix it up

and serve the beautiful community

{i wonder what God thinks about that idea}

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