Pine Valley Branch

The Pine Valley Branch chapel, despite its rural location, is probably one of the more well-known chapels in LDS Architecture. Pine Valley was discovered in 1855 by Isaac Riddle and William Hamblin, whose cow had meandered into the valley during the night. It immediately became an important source of lumber for the Mormon corridor, even being used to construct the pipes of the organ in the Salt Lake tabernacle.

It is a beautiful location, higher in elevation and providing the waters of the Santa Clara River that weaves its way to the Virgin River. By the 1860s, a group of settlers was already there, and they selected Ebenezer Bryce to design a chapel. A shipbuilder, he designed the roof of the chapel to be built like the bottom of a ship--just inverted.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

The Pine Valley Chapel was completed by 1867, and it now claims to be the "oldest continuously used" Latter-day Saint chapel in use. (The meaning of this term is unclear. The Bountiful Tabernacle was built in 1863, although perhaps they differentiate it based on the term 'tabernacle,' although it was and is still used for ward meetings.)