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

On Tuesday, the historical society, during its monthly meeting, 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.The organization hopes to partner with the Lions Club, which had members in attendance at the meeting, to restore the 1884 brass bell and build a monument for it in the center of town.Frank Jacobs, a member of the historical society's bell committee and a member of the Lions Club, provided a brief history of the project.The clubs are now looking to see if they can afford to restore it and create the monument, which may be placed in St. Patrick's Cemetery on Catawissa Street. The clubs would need to get approval from St. Francis of Assisi Church, which owns the cemetery, before placing the bell there.In the meantime, they are looking to see how much interest is in the community to help with the project.Mail donations to Nesquehoning Historical Society, c/o Nesquehoning Borough, 114 W. Catawissa St., Nesquehoning, PA 18240.Checks should be made payable to Nesquehoning Historical Fund with a note in the memo box "Bell Fund."Anyone who has ideas or expertise in bell restoration or on what type of monument the bell should be on, can attend the next meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 at the borough hall meeting room.About the schoolThe 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.Other businessIn other matters, the historical society announced that a historical slideshow, created by Ed Hadnagy, will be on display on the group's Facebook page.The society's church tour event, which was held last December and was a big success for the community, is being again planned for late 2016. Fundraising ideas are also in the works.