Under the direction of Bishop William Budge, construction on the Old Rock Church began in 1869, ten years after the settlement of Providence.  The new church meetinghouse, which replaced a hewn log structure erected in 1860, also served as a community center.  The hall featured a plank dance floor and pump organ, with a proscenium and stage on the east end.  The reddish limestone for its 30 inch thick, 20 foot high walls was quarried near Dry Pole Canyon.  Henry Brown was head mason. The building was completed in 1873, at a cost of $12,800.^[1]

A two-story rock vestry was added on the east about 1877. Major additions and alterations were made in 1926, 1948, and 1968.^[1]

Polk's Utah Gazetteer and Business Directory listed the Providence Opera House in its editions from 1908 through 1922.^[2]


1. National Register of Historic Places plaque
2. Polk's Utah Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1908-1909, 1912-1913, 1914-1915,1918-1919, 1920-1921, 1922-1923