Materials

  In 1880, labor was a smaller portion of a project's budget than today. Individual craftsmen endured lengthy apprenticeships. Labor saving, but ineffective and short lived technologies (aluminum/vinyl siding, paint spraying, liquid roof coatings and glue-seamed asphalt and rubber roofs) were not yet invented. Available materials of the trade were wood, metal, slate and paint. Each of these items demands significant labor and careful design, and, in the past, that is what many steeples received. This is the main reason they still stand tall today.