Lime Kilns

In building a city, such as Brigham City, one of the critical items to have in supply was lime.  Lime was needed for mortar, for whitewash, and for a number of other uses, such as keeping down the odor in privies.

Thus, a source of lime was a necessity in every pioneer community, and lime kilns (see also here)were among the earliest industries erected at the founding of Utah's communities.

Here is a large four-bay lime kiln in the foothills east of Salt Lake City.  It was restored some years ago, and, though largely unknown, and off the beaten path, is still accessible to the history-oriented hiker.

This lime kiln, recently restored, is found in Ogden Canyon.

Photograph Copyright Frederick M. Huchel

This unrestored lime kiln is located just north of Richfield.

This lime kiln was build by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, on a never-used branch built near Cleveland, Utah.

The mountains to the north and to the east of Brigham City contain a great deal of gray Mississippian limestone "deposited in fairly deep water far from land." (Halka Chronic, Roadside Geology of Utah, p. 156, quoted in Frederick M. Huchel, A Traveler's Guide to Utah Along Scenic, Historic U. S. Highway 89, p. 230.)

Brigham City had its own lime kilns.  Just as one leaves Mantua, going up the canyon toward the summit, on U. S. Highway 89, stood the Sheffield Lime Kiln, here photographed by this blogger in 1976.  The structure was obliterated with the widening of the highway in the early 1990s.

"Two and a half miles down from the summit, on the left side of the road was the old Sheffield Lime Kiln. In the early days of Brigham City, James Sheffield built a kiln here to burn the abundant limestone for building lime used in mortar and plaster. By 1990, the kiln's rockwork had crumbled to the point that it was in serious danger of tumbling into the gully. It was obliterated when the road was widened in the mid 1990s." (Frederick M. Huchel, A Traveler's Guide to Utah Along Scenic, Historic U. S. Highway 89, p. 260.) 41d 31m 14.10s N, 111d 56m 32.34s W

Sheffield Lime Kiln  Copyright Frederick M. Huchel

The Brigham City United Order Lime Kiln survives.  It is located north of Brigham City, on the North String road (Utah Highway 38 - renamed from Highway 69, because the road signs kept being stolen), between Brigham City and Harper Ward.

The Brigham City United Order Lime Kiln,

photographs Copyright Frederick M. Huchel

The Original Four Ward Chapels

On August 19, 1877, Brigham Young divided the Brigham City Ward into four wards.  It was his custom, as he organized towns into wards throughout the Utah Zion, to place the First Ward in the south-east corner of town, and then proceed in a clock-wise direction, the same way he did (following Joseph Smith's instructions) in laying temple corner-stones.

The wards then went to work building their individual chapels.  The original First Ward Chapel remains, though it is no longer in the hands of the Church (the rock portion is the original building).

The original First Ward building

Copyright Frederick M. Huchel

The original Second Ward chapel received additions throughout the years.  Eventually, it was sold and became the offices of the Box Elder School District.  It is now in private hands.  The original section is clearly visible.

The Original Second Ward building

Copyright Frederick M. Huchel

The original Third Ward chapel was razed in the early years of the twentieth century.  No photograph is known of this building.  A conjectural artist's reconstruction of the old chapel does exist.

What the original Third Ward building may have looked like.

The original Fourth Ward Chapel was superseded by a new building in the 1890s, at the opposite end of the block, and became the recreation hall.  It was finally torn down when the new Eighth Ward chapel was built in the early 1950s.

The Original Fourth Ward building

Author's collection

 

 

Three of the original ward buildings were replaced in the 1890s.  The First and Fourth wards built new buildings.  The Second Ward added onto its original building, in 1890.

 

 

 

The Third Ward waited until 1912, and built a grand new chapel under the direction of Bishop Lorenzo Stohl.