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A last-minute rescue this month resulted in several pieces of century-old Mt. Pleasant history being returned to Western Pennsylvania after spending almost two decades of being stored inside a warehouse near Columbus, Ohio.

Nine stained-glass windows, weighing between 700 and 900 pounds each, that adorned the former Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church in Mt. Pleasant, were driven 200 miles back to Mt. Pleasant on March 13 through efforts of the area historical society.

“We’re not sure what we’re going to do with the windows yet, but we knew we had to get them back. They belong here … they’re part of our history,” said Richard Snyder, chairman of the Mt. Pleasant Area Historical Society.

“I heard they had the heavy equipment sitting right there as they loaded the windows in the truck in order to begin demolishing the Ohio warehouse where they were stored. If we didn’t take them, they were going to wind up in the junk yard,” Snyder said.

Another historical society member Rick Meason said a priest with an Ohio diocese had acquired the windows shortly after the church in Mt. Pleasant was demolished in 2003.

“It’s my understanding that the priest — I don’t know his name — had designs of building some type of a Catholic Church museum out there and acquired the windows to put in the museum right after they demolished Transfiguration. However, the project never really got off the ground,” Meason said.

Last year, the Ohio diocese decided to tear down the warehouse where the windows sat to make room for a new building. Attempts to sell the windows failed.

Snyder said a little more than two months ago, Mt. Pleasant Council member Cindy Stevenson, who also is a member of the historical society, received a call that the Ohio diocese was trying to find a home for the windows that are still in the original wood frames and they could be had for free, if transportation could be arranged.

“I know we had to act pretty fast,” Meason said.

On March 13, the historical society arranged for an Ohio truck driver and workers there to load the windows — seven are just a little over five-feet wide by 19-feet tall and two others are “just 44-inches wide” but still 19-feet tall — and drive them to Mt. Pleasant.

“It cost $900 for the truck and $600 for the workers there. They began loading the trucks and I received a call they were leaving there at 10 a.m.,” Snyder said.

Meason and Snyder then put out a call on social media for volunteers to show up at the American Architectural Salvage warehouse on West Main Street in Mt. Pleasant to help unload the windows.

“We had about 14 volunteers show up. … Some were historical society members, but many who had family ties to the church who were either had grandparents, parents who were members or even attended the church,” Snyder said.

The church was dedicated on Hitchman Street on Nov. 29, 1899, after being founded in the 1890s by Polish and Slavish immigrants, “most of them miners,” according to Meason.

In September 2002, the Roman Catholic Diocese in Greensburg closed the church after structural engineers determined it was structurally unsafe and could collapse. After a months-long court battle between the diocese and parish members, who felt the building could be repaired, the church was razed in February 2003.

“Again, we’re not sure what we’re going to do with them. But we are happy to get them back here rather than them ending up in a garbage pile somewhere,” Snyder said.

“Only one of the windows appears to be damaged, and they are all in pretty decent shape,” he said.

“Eventually, I’d like to see one restored and put on display somewhere and then go from there. I received an estimate that it would cost $5,000 for restoration work on just one of those windows, but we just don’t have the funding right now,” Snyder said.

Snyder said that anyone wishing to donate to the historical society can make donations to the Mt. Pleasant Area Historical Society, 420 Washington St., Mt. Pleasant, PA 15666. He said donors wishing the money go towards the windows can mark their donations in care of Snyder and write ‘windows’ on the checks.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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