Brigham City's Original Baptismal Font
- Ken Bott
- Mar 3
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 5
In 1902, Joseph F. Smith directed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to address the importance of baptizing children when they turned 8 years old and to help this happen by building baptismal fonts indoors. Among other reasons, this would allow children to be baptized more conveniently during winter months. Chapels that were already built were not retrofitted for this so the original 4 wards did not have a font. The Box Elder Stake decided to put a font in the Tithing Office at 66 South 100 West. The font was completed by October 18, 1906 with many of the original builders of the building in attendance. Records appear to indicate that this was the only font in use in the stake until the 5th Ward’s building was partially completed in 1923, equipped with its own font. (The 8th Ward building also had a font for a period of time but it was removed.)
As previously noted, the Fawson family acquired the building and property in 1936, according to family records, and worked on the building for 1 ½ years to make it a single-story home. The family history also noted that the font had rails that were iron and square. The family elected to fill in the font to avoid issues with it.
In November, Alan Morrell and I were able to go into the building and decided to search for the font. The font’s remains were located in the basement room on the north side of the building. With excavating we were able to find the ball valve and lower portion of the font that remained intact. It was made with mostly yellow, and some red, brick with a concrete overlay. It was approximately 45” deep and 67” wide by 126” long. What appear to be the records of the baptisms that occurred in this font were located at the Church History Museum. The records note approximately 2200 individuals from the area were baptized in this font from 1906-1923.
If your relative was baptized in this area during this time, I may be able to get you a picture of the record if you reach out by messaging Historic Brigham City Association.
For safety issues and other reasons, the Tithing Office and font were destroyed today, March 3, 2025, after more than 150 years in the community.
