Porterville Ward

The story of the Porterville Ward (a small town south of Morgan, Utah) is a sad one. It is on a site just outside of the small town on a hill overlooking the valley. It was built in 1898. The main floor was the chapel, while the basement was another large hall for activities. It was a lovely sandstone building.

Source: Utah State Historical Society

In 1942, the building was sold to a private owner and a new chapel was built near the center of town. The owner reported that people kept throwing rocks at the windows, removing pews and benches, while pigeons roosted in the attic. By at least 1975, the chapel was renovated into a home where a new owner lived. In 2001, one of the daughters left a candle burning in her bedroom, which eventually burned the entire meetinghouse down.


The meetinghouse originally had all of its walls still standing, but sometime in the past few years, the front wall came down. It's terribly sad to see, although the scaffolding looks like someone is doing something with it.