Religious
Abbey of our Lady of the Holy Trinity
Ashton & Evans designed the well-known Quonset-hut style Abbey of the Holy Trinity and outbuildings for the Cistercian monks in 1947-8. That Abbey was meant to be temporary but lasted for over 70 years until it was demolished in 2019. Even during the planning and construction of the Quonset hut Abbey, a more elaborate monastery…
Capitol Hill Ward
The Capitol Hill Ward was organized in April, 1925 from parts of the 17th, 19th, and 24th LDS Wards. The members spent several months “of diligent search” and decided on the current triangular lot near the capitol. However, trouble was brewing. That lot was owned by the State of Utah, and as a result of…
Las Vegas Ward
The Las Vegas Latter-day Saint ward house was built during the depression and dealt with serious financial issues from beginning to end. When the ward authorities announced that after much prayer and soul searching, a new chapel would be built at 9th and Clark streets, there was strong dissent. “What: Build the chapel way out…
Le Grand Ward
The Le Grand Ward was organized in 1913, and immediately thereafter began erection of a chapel at the intersection of McClelland St and Yale Avenue in Salt Lake City. The Le Grand Ward is one of the many structures designed by Raymond Ashton prior to the 1922 Ashton & Evans partnership. In fact, Le Grand…
Monastery of the Holy Trinity
In January 1947, Right Rev. Abbot M. Frederic Dunne, the abbot of a Trappist (Cistercian) monastery in Kentucky visited Utah to purchase a 1,640 site about five miles southeast of Huntsville. That tract was considered “the prettiest and most lucrative farm section in Huntsville” (Newly). From the beginning the monastery was envisioned as a home…
Randolph Ward Recreation Center
In the early days of Latter-day Saint settlement in Utah, as resources permitted, amusement halls were constructed adjacent – or near – to the meetinghouses. These structures were used for theater, dance halls, sport, political, and religious purposes. This practice of separating the meetinghouse and the amusement hall continued well into the twentieth century. In…
Teton Stake & Driggs Ward Tabernacle
Driggs Idaho is located in Teton Valley nestled along the Idaho-Wyoming border. It is surrounded by vast farmlands and plains that lead up to the tall, cragged peaks of Wyoming’s Teton Range. The Driggs Ward of the LDS church was organized in 1901 and soon thereafter the Teton Stake was organized. In 1904 the stake approved a…
Twenty First Ward Cultural Hall Addition
This property on 1st Avenue has served the LDS church with three different structures, beginning with a chapel and cultural hall in 1877. That building had served its purpose by the early 20th century. The Chapel was replaced in 1904 and the cultural hall in 1926 as part of a large Ashton & Evans addition….
Twenty Seventh Ward Cultural Hall Addition
The Twenty Seventh Ward was created in January 1902 and the membership immediately began meeting in Taggert Hall over a drug store until their new chapel at 187 P Street was complete. During construction, members would stop by the site on their way to-or-from work to help with the building. The Victorian Gothic-style chapel was…
Wells Ward Amusement Hall
The Wells Ward was created in June 1919 and at the same time it was announced that “plans for the immediate building of a meeting house will be completed within a few days” (L.D.S. create). It was true, only 16 days later (July), the location of the new building on 500 East near 2100 South…
Wells Ward Chapel Addition
Wells Ward was created in June 1919 and religious services were held in the new Wells Ward Amusement Hall from March 1920 until 1926 at which time the Wells Ward Chapel addition was built. The “preliminaries” (preliminary designs) for the chapel had been developed in 1920 by Rutherford and Ashton. However Francis Rutherford moved to…
Yalecrest Ward
Yale Ward was divided and Yalecrest Ward organized on 29 Dec 1935. At that time, the new bishopric was sustained along with R. Verne McCullough as chairman of the Yalecrest building committee (New L.D.S ward). Note that A&E had designed McCullough’s Yalecrest residence ten years earlier. Groundbreaking was held in May 1936.The building is a…