First Public Building

Escalante's first public building was a log hall, thirty-six feet by eighteen, raised in 1876–77 from timber that oxen dragged down off Cyclone Lake Mountain. The pioneers hewed the foot-and-a-half logs by hand, pinned them with oak, and chinked the joints with lime; the desks were boards hinged to the wall, and the seats were split logs, flat side up, with no backs. It served as schoolhouse and meeting hall both until 1885, and stood until 1898. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers marker fixes the spot, twenty feet east of where it stood.

What the plaque says

In 1876-77 Escalante Pioneers erected a log building, 36 x 18 feet, located 20 feet west of this marker. The logs 18 inches in diameter came from Cyclone Lake Mountain by ox team. They were hewn by hand, fastened with oak pins, morticed ends and chinked with lime mortar. It had white sandstone foundation, one door, three windows on each side and shingled with white pine shingles. Desks were boards hinged to the wall. Seats were split logs, flat side up. No back. Building used for school and all public gatherings until 1885. Teachers - Jane S. Coleman, Mary Ann P. Schow, John Miles. Building vacated in 1898.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Escalante Interagency Visitor Center — steps away
  Your essential stop before heading into the backcountry
• Escalante — steps away
  The town that gave Grand Staircase-Escalante its name
• Escalante Petrified Forest State Park — 0.3 mi
  Walk among 150-million-year-old stone trees
• Lower Calf Creek Falls — 9.9 mi
  A 126-foot waterfall hidden in a desert canyon

More markers nearby

• Escalante-Boulder Veterans Memorial — steps away
• L.D.S. Tithing Office — steps away
• Escalante — steps away
• Old White Church — steps away