Old Rock Church

This church spent its first years as a fort. Salina's Latter-day Saints began building it in 1864, hauling stone from a quarry two miles off under the stonecutter Soren Neilson. But they had raised the walls only to the square when the Black Hawk War reached the valley — the Ute fight against the loss of their land — and the half-built church was pressed into service as a place of refuge. Work did not resume until the fighting eased, and the building was finished in 1871. Afterward it held the town's church, school, and gatherings.

What the plaque says

Erection of the first L.D.S. Church in Salina was commenced in 1864 when rocks were hauled from a quarry two miles away. Soren Neilson, a stonecutter, supervised the work. When the structure was built to the square, the people used it as a fort. Because of the Black Hawk War the building was not completed until 1871. One large room, 64 x 32 feet was later divided. It served the community for church, school and other gatherings. This bell atop the monument called the people together on every occasion.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mayfield — 14 mi
  Gateway to Twelve Mile Canyon and the Skyline Drive high country
• Gunnison — 14 mi
  Sanpete's southern hub, home to Utah's oldest operating theater
• Sterling — 19 mi
  A highway hamlet and the doorway to Palisade State Park
• Palisade State Park — 20 mi
  A pioneer-built lake turned central Utah's favorite state park

More markers nearby

• CCC Camp F-32, Co.-479 — 0.5 mi
• CCC & POW Camp Museum — 0.6 mi
• Outbreak of Black Hawk War — 1.5 mi
• Redmond Town Hall Monument — 3.4 mi