New Albany church wins Indiana Landmarks restoration prize

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) - Indiana Landmarks says a southern Indiana church that was a stop on the Underground Railroad has won its 2018 Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration.

The historic preservation group says New Albany's Second Baptist Church, also known as Town Clock Church, has restored its steeple, repaired its broken clock and stained-glass windows and recreated its original main doors and exterior lanterns over the past five years. A group known as Friends of Town Clock Church raised $175,000 for the project.

Underground Railroad historian Pam Peters of New Albany says the church built from 1849 to 1852 originally served a Presbyterian congregation. She says its 150-foot steeple, visible across the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, "acted as a beacon" to African-Americans fleeing slavery.

Indiana Landmarks will present the award April 28.