Lehi 3rd Ward

The Lehi 3rd Ward's original rectangular block meetinghouse was built in 1894. The foundation came from the nearby Lake Mountains, and the building itself is mostly Victorian Gothic with arched windows and brick corbeling. The foyer on the building's west entrnace was added in 1936.

 

 In 1917, a cross-wing addition was built onto the back.

 

The building was sold in 1953. Subsequent owners have taken great care to restore the building, since it had deteriorated over much of the late 20th century. It is now owned by a local store, Jami Ray Vintage. Here is the interior looking west while they were still preparing the building:

(Image Source)

And here is what it looks like now, looking east:

(Image Source)

South Royalton (VT) Ward

This guest article was written by Ryan Hallstrom. He's from Upstate New York and is an editor at McGoff Media. He enjoys writing about religion, the history of ritual, and sacred architecture.

The Church’s Joseph Smith Birthplace historic site is tucked away in the small community of South Royalton, Vermont. While remote, the Church has taken painstaking effort to make this pilgrimage destination both grand and cozy. Besides the monumental 38.5-foot-tall granite obelisk dedicated “sacred to the memory of Joseph Smith,” there is a boulevard lined by stately maple trees, some planted by the first leader of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, Junius Wells, in 1906 (source).  Near the entrance to the site is an impressive meetinghouse perched on a hill.

A local member told me that she thought that the chapel was built in the 1960s. That makes sense architecturally and because that’s when the nearby visitor’s center was built as part of the 1961 redesigns (source).

Let’s look at the back of the building first. This is the side you’d see from the parking lot. On your left is the wing that houses the family history center and the Primary room.

In the center (the part with the columns) are foyers and the Relief Society room, and on the right side is the gym (ok, “cultural hall”), the modern chapel, classrooms, and another foyer.

 There is a pair of staircases leading down to the back entrance.

 

The tall steeple is impressive, even from this angle.

 

Directly across from the parking lot is a small historic cemetery. While it’s not a graveyard (this Church building isn’t that old), and the proximity is almost certainly a coincidence, to me at least, it helps the meetinghouse feel more historical than it actually is.

The family history center entrance has a small porch, two round porthole windows, and a little cupola on top.

Moving around to the front side of the building, there’s a bay window and, noticeably, a boarded-up window. A senior missionary I spoke to seemed embarrassed by the broken window. I think it’s something that will eventually be fixed.

 

Broken window aside, it seems clear to me that the front of the building was built to be impressive.

First off, there is a circular driveway, which I imagine doesn’t get much use since it’s easier to get to the parking lot behind the building using the main road.