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The Unitah Stake Tabernacle was built from 1898-1907 under the direction of Uintah Stake President Samuel R. Bennion and counselors Reuben S. Collett and James P. Hacking. The architect was T.T. Davies with William Cook as the builder. Fathers and sons toiled long days and nights with primitive tools. Logs were hauled from nearby canyons; bricks were made locally by Swain Brothers; pine woodwork was painted and combed to look like oak; pillars were painted to look like marble. Of modest construction, the building featured stone window heads and sills, arched vestibules, a U-shaped gallery, and a simple cupola crowned the roof. The total cost was $37,000.
Invited by Stake President William H. Smart, Church President Joseph F. Smith dedicated the Tabernacle on August 24, 1907. Crowds filled the building for two days of services. Children sang and recited the Articles of Faith.
The building was used as a meeting house and stake tabernacle until 1949 when a new stake center was built. The original building was used thereafter until 1984 as a cultural center, political hall, and the scene of many spiritual events. On February 13, 1994, after the building had been vacant for several years, the First Presidency announced that it would be converted into a temple for use by the Latter-day Saints in the Vernal area.
This page is for the D.U.P. historic marker about the Uintah Stake Tabernacle, the marker is outside the DUP Museum which is the old tithing office located at 186 South 500 West in Vernal, Utah, see this page for the Uintah Stake Tabernacle/Vernal Utah Temple itself.
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