Arts & Culture
Lehi’s LDS Tithing Barn to receive next historical marker
Nicole Kunze
The next unveiling of the Lehi Historical Marker Program will celebrate the early Tithing Barn of the Lehi Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday, July 9, at 7 p.m. at 651 N. 200 E. The public is invited to attend.
“Come and find out about what the tithing barn was, the many public functions that were held there and what popular treat was introduced to Lehi at the barn,” said Jodi Atkinson, one of the chairs for the unveiling.
Speakers will share the barn’s history, youth will perform the Virginia Reel and ice cream will be served, as the barn was the first place ice cream was introduced in Lehi.
As directed by the Lord in the Old Testament, early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints voluntarily brought 10% of their increase to the Church in what was known as tithing. It was an expression of their faith in the Lord and His work. Members of the Church still pay tithing today.
In the early days of the Church, tithing contributions were often in-kind, in the form of grain, hay, vegetables, butter, salt, cocoons and raw silk, chickens, eggs, pigs and “everything which it is conceivable that mankind should sell and buy on this side of the Rocky Mountains,” according to traveler Fritz Hugh Ludlow, who visited the Salt Lake City Bishop’s General Storehouse in the 1860s.
Such donations required a tithing barn and yard for storage. All collections, storage and disbursements were controlled by the local ecclesiastical leader, usually the bishop, and day-to-day operations of the tithing office were under the supervision of a clerk.
Lehi’s first tithing office was built in 1854. It included a two-story adobe building with a basement and surrounding mud wall on Main Street. In 1855, the yard was expanded to include a larger barn and one-sixth of the block. The tithing yard was located on the north side of Main Street between 300 and 400 West, just east of the home of Lehi’s first bishop, David Evans.
In 1879, when Thomas R. Cutler replaced Evans as bishop of the Lehi Ward, Cutler relocated the tithing yard and barn to the northwest corner of 600 North and 200 East. This property backed up to his own property. This tithing yard consisted of the barn and office/granary, two large corrals, three log stables, a flowing well with pump, an outhouse, a root cellar with a dirt roof and weigh scales.
The need for a tithing yard became a thing of the past after World War I, when the American economy became mainly cash-based. However, the old barn still stands.
Bruce and Dina Shaw Webb purchased the land on which the barn resided in 1973. They did not know the significance of the barn until Lehi historian, Carl Mellor, informed them.
In 1876, the Tithing Barn was the site of Lehi’s U.S. Centennial Celebration. Thereafter, the barn was known as Centennial Hall. The celebration committee built a sturdy dance floor, and the barn was decorated with cedar boughs, flowers, bunting and flags. After foot races and other sporting events in the afternoon, couples danced the night away.
This event will be the 11th unveiling of the Lehi Historical Marker Program. The program was founded in 2022 when the Lehi Historical Society won funding for the program through a generous donation and continued support from the John David and Danaca Hadfield family of HADCO Construction and a large Lehi City PARC grant.
The next unveiling will honor Saratoga Resort on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. at 746 N. 100 E., where John Beck, founder of the resort, lived. For more information, call the Lehi Historical Society at 801-768-1570 or see lehihistory@gmail.com.
