This ladder was removed from the attic of St. Joseph's Rectory in Bonneauville in 2013. The building was being torn down. The ladder had been there since the building was constructed in the mid-1800's. The attic access stairwell was too small to remove the ladder so it spent its entire life serving one purpose.

Typically in the 1800's, roofs were accessed through a water-proof trap door in the roof itself. The ladder set on the attic floor and extended through the trap door when roof maintenance was required. A warm patina and the ample hand tool marks visible on the piece reveal its old age.