Echo Chapel & Cemetery - Ward Building

This Victorian Gothic building stands as the remaining historic edifice of "Echo City," one of many boom towns built along the Transcontinental Railroad. In 1876, the Echo City School District constructed the building with English immigrant John Shill reportedly designing and supervising the construction. Most of the materials are local: red pine lumber from Saw Mill in Echo Canyon, sandstone from a quarry in Grass Creek, brick from clay in the Echo hills. The bell arrived by rail. Protestants begain using the building for evangelical purposes in 1882, and for a few years even provided the weekday school classes. The LDS Church began worshiping here in 1905 and purchased the building in 1914 after Echo built a new school house. In 1940 major remodeling occurred, including a concrete basement and stairway. People of all denominations helped. The building became idle in 1963 as a result of Echo's decline in population. A local LDS Young Adult group used the building in the 1970's. In 1983 ECHO, a non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving the site, purchased the building to continue its use as a community center. Marker placed in 1989 by the Division of State History, The National Register of Historic Places.