The Nesquehoning Historical Society wants to resurrect a little piece of borough history.

On Wednesday, Nesquehoning Borough Council approved the society’s request to move the former West End Elementary School’s bell from the borough garage to the historical society’s property on West Railroad Street.

“I think that’s a lot more of an appropriate place for it,” said council President David Hawk with regards to moving it to the historical society.

The society said in its letter to council that members now “have the capability to store it and have it refurbished.”

No timeline for the move or details about the project had been announced at the meeting.

Historical society member Tim Sverduk said a bell committee has been formed and is working on the details of the move.

In September 2015, the historical society showcased the West End Elementary School’s bell, which has been sitting in the borough garage since the school was demolished over two decades ago, during one of its meetings.

The organization at the time said it wanted to restore the 1884 brass bell and build a monument for it in the center of town.

The school

The West End Elementary School, located on 200 block of West Railroad Street, was constructed in 1882 by John B. Breslin for a cost of $3,900.

According to records at the Nesquehoning Historical Society, the school was a two-story wooden frame structure with yellow clapboard siding and a basement.

The first principal at new school was P.H. McCabe, and teacher salaries ranged from $35 to $75 a month.

Over the next few decades, the school grew to include six grades and included up to 225 students.

The school closed in 1955, and the students were transferred to the East End school.

Following the closure, the building was used as a school for special education students in the county and briefly in the 1970s as Panther Valley’s fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms.

Between 1976 and 1988, the building served as the offices for Nesquehoning Borough and later the police department.

After the offices and police department vacated the building, the building was demolished, leaving only the wrought-iron fence at the site.

The area that once served students now stands as a playground, dedicated to former borough council President Early Johnson.