Social Hall

Built around the 1890s with brick walls three courses thick, Panguitch's Social Hall was the town's living room. Its double doors stood open for summer air; pot-bellied stoves and oil lamps carried it through winter. Under a curved roof the hall hosted junior proms and midwinter frolics, Gold and Green Balls, Old Folks Day, and Relief Society birthday parties — the whole social calendar of a high-country Mormon town. The marker stands in Panguitch, a place that kept its handmade brick better than almost anywhere in Utah.

What the plaque says

The Panguitch Social Hall was built during the years between 1890-1900. Fredrick Judd made the bricks and slacked the lime for the laying of the brick. The walls were three bricks thick, and the building had wide double-doors on either side of the hall which remained open for ventilation during the hot summer months. A curved roof added interest to the building. It was heated for years by huge pot-bellied wood-burning stoves and lighted by oil lamps. The mayor at the time the building was built was John Houston who supported its use for many activities some of which are listed. It was used evenings for Junior Proms, Mid-Winter Frolics and Christmas dances, Gold & Green Balls, other dances and class parties. The use of the building for daytime activities included Old Folks Day, Lions Cub Amateur Hour for the children, and the Relief Society Birthday Parties. High School activities included plays, assemblies, operettas and dance revues. Of particular interest were chautaquas, educational lectures and entertainment provided by a traveling institution. Special activities were minstral shows, wedding receptions and the County Fairs with displays of food, clothing and quilts. The hall was first called the Mascot Hall, which name was later changed to Social Hall. It was partially burned about 1920 and rebuilt in the original pattern using native brick. The building is still in use.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Panguitch — steps away
  A well-preserved pioneer town and gateway to Bryce Canyon
• Red Canyon — 8.1 mi
  A blazing red gateway carved by water and wind
• Panguitch Lake — 14 mi
  A Blue Ribbon trout lake at 8,400 feet on the Patchwork Parkway
• Bryce Canyon Lodge — 20 mi
  A 1925 National Historic Landmark perched on the canyon rim

More markers nearby

• Panguitch Stake Tabernacle — steps away
• Panguitch Tithing Lot — steps away
• Panguitch Fort — steps away
• The Panguitch Quilt Walk — steps away