Pendleton Rock House

Traveling mason and plasterer George Dunford built at least three rock homes in Wanship as well as the rock schoolhouse (ca 1879-1912) and the original brick LDS church (1887-1958). He apparently built his home in three sections beginning about 1860 with the rear single-room house. A front addition and cross-wing turned the home into the L-shaped house evident today. Each section was constructed of local stone with 18-inch thick walls. Joshua and Delpha Stewart Pendleton purchased the stone house in 1890 for eleven hundred dollars. By 1880, Wanship had become a crossroads for east/west railroad traffic and wagon traffic south to the Kamas Valley. Augmenting his blacksmith business, Pendleton added a wooden structure to the home’s street façade to serve as a store, post office and restaurant. During summer months, Delpha cooked meals for travelers on an outdoor wood stove. One month before she died in 1937, Delpha sold the home to her oldest son, William, who continued to live in the home with his wife, Millie Irene Lee. In 1987 Dale Nelson purchased the homestead including the house, outbuildings and blacksmith shop, to provide storage for his many historic stagecoaches, hay wagons, fire engines and other large artifacts. It became affectionately known as “Dale’s roadside attraction” on the old Lincoln Highway.

Located at 30049 Old Lincoln Highway in Wanship, Utah