Historic Seminary Buildings

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about historic institute buildings. I decided it would be nice to also talk about some historic seminary buildings. I'm aware of.

The first seminary was established at Granite High School in Salt Lake City. It hasn't been standing for decades, but they actually did salvage a brick from this building and put it in a case in the entryway of the seminary building that replaced it (at 3328 S 500 E in Salt Lake). Now that Granite High School is closed, the building is used for offices only, I believe.

Few other historic seminary buildings exist; most have been replaced. A few have been sold or repurposed. One prominent example is the original seminary building for Springville High School, which is now a family history center. I believe it dates to about 1912.

Another example is the Bear River Seminary (located in Garland, Utah), which has been sold and is used as an academy. It was built in 1924:

(Image Source)

A reader alerted me to the old seminary building in Vernal, Utah. It was built in 1937. The Church now uses it as a distribution center:

There are a few others I'm aware of, such as at Grace and Paris, Idaho. You just don't see very many historic seminaries and institutes; they weren't built in as big of numbers as meetinghouses or tabernacles.

Laramie Ward

My blog has only highlighted one other institute building--the one in Logan, built in 1928. As far as I can tell, the only other institute building that is historic (by which I mean, built pre-1950) is the one for the University of Wyoming in Laramie. In 1936, President Heber J. Grant dedicated it to serve both as a meetinghouse and an institute, and it continues to serve in that function today.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

It was constructed of native rock that gives it an original look. It had some really neat prairie style elements along its sides and in details such as the doors (which are no longer there).

(Image Source: Church History Library)

The building still looks largely the same, although it has been expanded and modernized.

From pictures I found online, the interior of the building looks extremely modernized, and I doubt any historic elements remain at all.

South Jordan Ward

Built in 1926, most of the bricks for this chapel came from an old school across the street that was demolished at the same time of construction. It was used until 1972, when it was sold and continues to be owned privately.

Granite Ward: Exterior Details

A couple of sculptures by Avard Fairbanks are on the gates of the building.

 

 

Detroit Branch & Fairbanks Panels

One of my favorite parts about running this blog is when local members reach out to me to alert me of some unique architectural feature or art in their local building. I had that happen to me just recently. A member contacted me explaining that, in the 1940s, the Relief Society had a monument erected on Temple Square, between the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall. It houses the Nauvoo Bell, and panels around the monument were made by Avard T. Fairbanks (the same one whose works are now housed in the Granite Ward Chapel).

A year or two after the monument went up, the local bishop in Detroit offered to purchase the original carvings from Fairbanks. He accepted the offer, and the 3 carvings were hung in the chapel behind the pulpit.

The three panels are meant to symbolize important roles filled by the women in the Church.

After that chapel was vacated in the 1970s, the panels ended up in storage in the basement of the new meetinghouse (which shares a parking lot with the Detroit Michigan Temple). When cleaning the basement one day, local members asked what the panels were and suggested throwing them away. When the history of the panels was revealed, local leaders instead opted to hang them in the lobby:

The panels still hang there today, enjoyed by local members, although they may not all be aware of the history of the panels, and that they are the original carvings that form a monument on Temple Square.

I love stories like these--there are so many unique pieces of art and heritage that can be found in random meetinghouses across the globe. I hope we can document and preserve as many as possible.

Toquerville Ward

Toquerville is a small community northwest of St. George, located on the banks of Ash Creek, which runs down along the rim of the Great Basin to the Virgin River. Near the center of town is one of the oldest standing buildings, an original LDS Chapel built in 1879.

Image Source: Church History Library

I'm not sure of the timing, but as some point the building was sold to the city. It serves as town hall and has some historical items inside. The outside has been preserved pretty well, as were the wood floors inside the building.

 

Salt Lake 15th Ward

Built in 1904, this Gothic chapel has many similar counterparts in other areas of Salt Lake City. It had an addition built in the 1920s.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

While it is still standing, it was sold in the late 1960s. It has passed ownership a few times, and it now used as a recording studio.

There are signs of disrepair throughout the building.