The Kanab Chapel

The Kanab Chapel. . Although religious meetings were held in Kanab from its settlement in 1870, the town lacked a building with the dignity and atmosphere of a chapel. The people met in the Kanab Fort, various homes, in a bowery, and in the Ward Hall for their church services until the Chapel was completed in 1924. Construction began in 1923 by citizens of Kanab, who donated money, time, labor, and materials needed for the building. The chapel was built out of locally-manufactured red bricks and hewn native stone from a nearby quarry. At great sacrifice, the beautiful marble cornerstone was carried from deep within Kanab Canyon, a side canyon of the Grand Canyon. It was faced and engraved, then laid in place and dedicated on 7 March 1923. The official dedication of the entire chapel by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints President Heber J. Grant took place on 16 September 1928, four years after its completion. , In 1959, an extension was added to the chapel to accommodate the growing congregation of Kanab Stake. That extension became inadequate and was torn down in 2011 to make way for a new Stake Center just to the west. Renovation and remodeling into a Family History Center with space for church offices preserved the heritage of the old chapel. This building, truly a labor of love and faith, continues to grace the community as an icon of spirituality and worship. Additional information is available at the Kanab Heritage Museum.