"Diversities of Gifts": The Eclectic Architecture of Early LDS Churches

"Diversities of Gifts": The Eclectic Architecture of Early LDS Churches

By JANELL BRIMHALL

Latter-day Saint meetinghouses have served as important community centers in Utah. Used as schools, chapels, and social halls, they have been in the Salt Lake Valley since the earliest settlement years. In February 1849 Brigham Young divided Salt Lake City into nineteen bishops' wards. Each ward was responsible for locating property and building its own meetinghouse through a building committee, which made major decisions concerning the architect and the style of the building. All members of the ward construction contributed to the building of the church, either with labor or funds; even the little children would bring their money to help with the construction. This process gave all members a feeling of pride and reverence for their meetinghouse. 1

The fact that each ward -was responsible for its own meetinghouse gave rise to a tremendous variety among nineteenth- and early twentieth-century -ward buildings. The building styles and materials varied, and the size and wealth of the ward factored into how elaborate the building would be. The diversity of these early Mormon churches later gave way to standardized meetinghouse designs wherein function, not aesthetics, became the most important consideration.

The diversity of these early meetinghouses has been captured by Salt Lake photographer Hal Rumel. Trained at the Los Angeles Art Center, Rumel became a respected and talented photographer. In the 1930s he opened a small studio at Ruby's Inn in Bryce Canyon and sold scenery shots to tourists. World War II interrupted his photographic career, but upon his discharge in 1943 he opened a studio at 49 W 300 South in Salt Lake City. He later moved to a studio at 520 E. 200 South, where his business operated until the late 1970s. Rumel's photographic work has earned several awards, including the National Professional Photographers Association's Master of Photography Award. 2 The following images have been selected from Rumel's photograph collection located at the Utah State Historical Society. In 1937 Rumel photographed LDS meetinghouses in Salt Lake and Davis counties, creating a total of 120 images. These meetinghouse photographs, part of a larger Rumel collection, illustrate the diversity of the buildings. Some of these buildings are still standing, but most have been demolished and replaced. Fortunately, a record of these buildings has been preserved through the Hal Rumel photograph collection.

Construction on the Midvale Second Ward began January 1929. The Colonial Revival meetinghouse is a pleasant sight on Midvale's Main Street. The most unusual feature of this building is the roof garden, where dances were held during the summer. In this photo the string of lights on top of the roof gives evidence of these summer-night dances.25

The Twenty-seventh Ward was created from a division of the Twenty-first Ward in 1902. Shortly after the division the new ward built a meetinghouse at 187 P Street in a Victorian Gothic style. During construction, members of the ward would stop by the site on their way to or from work to help with the building. The dedicatory services for the chapel were held on April 26, 1908. In 1927 construction of an addition to the chapel began and was completed in 1930.26 The Tudor Revival addition complements the design of the original chapel.

Notes

Janell Brimhall is a reference specialist at the USHS History Information Center

1 Joseph F Smith, Jr., "Uses and Maintenance of Churches by Latter-day Saints," Improvement Era 17 (May 1914), 732

2 Register of the Hal Rumel Photograph Collection, 1981, C-266, MS, Utah State Historical Society (USHS), Salt Lake City, Utah

3 Permit Number 3910, Salt Lake City Building Permits Register, USHS

4 Thomas Carter and Peter Goss, Utah's Historic Architecture 1847-1940: A Guide (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988), 142

5 Highland Park Ward, Salt Lake City Architectural Survey, State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) files, USHS.

6 Andrew Jenson, "Emigration Ward Manuscript History," LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City Permit Number 2922, SLC Building Permits Register.

7 Deseret News, February 7, 1914

8 Lonnie and Annette Holt, comp., "History of the Jordan Area: Riverton," 1989, MS, USHS, 63

9 Deseret News, November 6,1873 Church News; November 22, 1958

10 Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church offesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Publishing, 1941), 754

11 Andrew Jenson, "Wasatch Ward Manuscript History," LDS Church Archives.

12 Andrew Jenson, "West Bountiful Manuscript History," LDS Church Archives

13 Jenson, Encyclopedic History, 756

14 Deseret News, February 7, 1914

15 Andrew Jenson, "Twelfth-Thirteenth Ward Manuscript History," LDS Church Archives

16 The Story of Salt Lake Stake, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 150 Years of History, 1847-1997 (Salt Lake City: Salt Lake Stake), 214; Allen Roberts, "A Survey of LDS Architecture in Utah, 1847-1930," 1974, typescript copy at USHS

17 Granite:The Story of a Land and Its People (Sandy, Utah: Granite View Stake, 1995), 38.

18 LDS Thirty-first Ward, Salt Lake City Architectural Survey, SHPO files.

19 Andrew Jenson, "Clearfield Ward Manuscript History," LDS Church Archives

20 The Community of Syracuse (Syracuse, Utah: Syracuse Historical Commission, 1994), 422-23

21 National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, SHPO.

22 Andrew Jenson, "North Jordan Ward Manuscript History," LDS Church Archives

23 LDS Thirty-fourth Ward, Utah Historic Sites Survey, SHPO

24 Andrew Jenson, "Seventeenth Ward Manuscript History," LDS Church Archives; The Story of Salt Lake Stake, 217-18

25 Maurine Jensen, ed., Midvale History 1851-1979 (Midvale, Utah: Midvale Historical Society, 1979), 176.

26 Twenty-Seventh Ecclesiastical Ward of the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Historical Record (Salt Lake City: Hobby Horse Press, 1970), 44, 67, 71.