WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
LEEDS TOWN HALL
Leeds, Utah
LOCATION
218 N. Main StreetLeeds, UT 84746
(435)879-2447
HISTORY
This building was originally built as a schoolhouse in Silver Reef. It was paid for by public donations and was ready for use by January 1880. It also served the mining boomtown as a place for community dances and other gatherings.Soon after the schoolhouse was built, Silver Reef began to decline in population, and by the early 1900s the building was no longer in use. David McMullin, George Angell, and others were involved in salvaging the building. It was divided into two parts and moved on logs pulled by horses along the road, 2 miles from Silver Reef to its present site in Leeds.
There it was rebuilt into the Leeds Schoolhouse. Ira McMullin, George Angell, and Joe Stirling built a foundation for the new schoolhouse. Inside was a "big room" on the north end and a "little room" on the south side with a hallway between the two. There was a doorway on each side of the hall into the classrooms. The hallway led straight back into a supply room that was also called the library. Initially there were only outdoor restrooms, but at some time indoor restrooms were added.
For more than five decades, this building served as the schoolhouse. During most of that time, there were eight different grades taught at the school. Initially a man taught the four upper grades and was the principal of the school. A lady taught the four lower grades. During the last few years, the county began bussing the 7th and 8th graders down to St. George and one teacher taught the other six grades. The last year that school was held in Leeds (1955-1956), there were nine students in four grades.
When all the students began to be bussed to St. George, school building stood vacant. So the Leeds Ward leased the building from the Washington County School Board to be used as a recreation center. They paid $1.00 per year. Many changes were made. The partitions forming the classrooms, hallway, and closet were taken out and a stage was built at one end. The Relief Society had cupboards, a stove, sink, and refrigerator installed. This building served as a recreation center until the new chapel was built in 1975.
Eventually this school-recreation center was remodeled and evolved into a town hall and community gathering place for Leeds. The building was reroofed and the small porch on the original building was expanded across the full length of the town hall's front. It is now owned by the City of Leeds.
PHOTOS
Remodeled schoolhouse as it appeared in the early 1900s, after being moved from Silver Reef.
(Left to right: Unknown individual, William Stirling Sr., George Angell)
Building after being remodeled for use as the Leeds Town Hall.
Other WCHS photos:
WCHS-00171 Photo of the Leeds Town Hall
REFERENCES
Leeds Interpretive Sign: From Schoolhouse to Town Hall: A Building on the MoveWilma Cox Beal, " Leed Historical Events in Bits & Pieces", pp. 22-24, 26-30, 70-71.
August 1996, Southwestern Printing & Publishing Co, Leeds UT.