Wellsville Tabernacle: Details

The chapel has an old cry room at the back:

The pulpit appears to be original to the building:

The large, painted glass windows are really beautiful. Several panes had holes, which invites other problems, but it appears they are actively working to fix them.

Wellsville Tabernacle: Interior

It's been a long time since I posted about the Wellsville Tabernacle. Ground was broken on the tabernacle in 1903. The building was sold by the Church to the city in 1979, but in the 1990s, the city felt the upkeep was too much to handle. In 1994, the Wellsville Foundation was formed, and they still actively work to preserve the tabernacle. In the mid-2000s, they found structural problems and they had to close the building. They were recently able to raise $150,000 to secure the structure, which was completed in 2020. It's nice to have a success story.

They are now working on doing plumbing, HVAC, and other updates on the building. This was the first time I was able to document the building's interior. They anticipate that it will be usable again in Spring 2023.

The chapel interior is a square floor plan, with the pulpit being at one corner of the building, and an alcove on one wall. Nearby Clarkston's building has a similar floorplan, which makes me wonder if they copied this one in some ways.

Here's a panoramic view from behind the pulpit:

Looking from the pulpit over the pews:

 

  The building does need some work, but fortunately, it's mostly cosmetic at this point.

Fremont Ward

Fremont is a remote town in Wayne County, Utah. This chapel was built in 1907.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

Fortunately, it has been well preserved and is now owned by the local Daughters of the Utah Pioneers organization:

Lake Shore Ward

Lake Shore is a small settlement west of Spanish Fork, near the edge of Utah Lake. I don't have a date on when the Lake Shore Ward was built; it appears to have been right around 1950.

Teasdale Cultural Hall

The Church has built many buildings besides chapels throughout its history--relief society halls, schools and seminaries, and even separate cultural halls (see, for example, the Harold B. Lee Hall in Salt Lake). One example of a separate recreation/cultural hall is in the small town of Teasdale. It was originally known as the "dance hall."

 It has a very unique design. It was built in 1918. You can see there have been a couple of additions--the one on the left is a small lobby that houses artifacts; the one on the right is a kitchen and restrooms. The rest of the building is a recreation hall (with a basketball court).

Here's a peek at the lobby on the west side:

The Church put the hall up for sale in 2017. An interim buyer purchased it, and now the Teasdale Historical Society is raising funds to preserve and restore the building.

Teasdale Ward

The small town of Teasdale (near Capitol Reef National Park) has had its share of beautiful worship buildings. The Church purchased land in 1885 (for $9.99) for the first building, and it was built around 1890. A neighboring school was built in 1912. Here are both side by side:

(Image Source: Church History Library)

The school was later torn down. A new chapel was built next door, built over the course of a decade, from 1937 to 1947. It was known as the "little white chapel."

(Image Source: Church History Library)

(Image Source: Church History Library)

Unfortunately, this building was demolished in 2014. Now all that's left standing is the original building, now owned by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers organization.

Loa Tabernacle: Exterior Details