Garland Tabernacle
The Garland Stake Tabernacle was once known as the Bear River Stake Tabernacle. Garland, Utah, is located in northeastern Box Elder County. The tabernacle was started in 1912 and dedicated for use in 1914. Additions to the structure were done in 1930, 1966, and 1974. It was remodeled in 2000.
"Garland is located eighteen miles south of the Idaho border, twenty miles north of Brigham City, and twenty-five miles west of Logan. Situated on the east bank of the Malad River, it is surrounded by mountains on three sides. The mountains and valleys are a result of the great upheaval that took place about 60 million years ago. Garland sits on what was the bottom of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, and the rich soil deposits have been a boon to the area’s agriculture."[1]
The settlement in and around Garland was at first called Sunset. The community later decided to change the name of Sunset to Garland in honor of William Garland who was the contractor who built the Utah Sugar Company factory.[2]
The Deseret News offered a poignant memory from the community's need for this tabernacle:
"In June 1948, a special funeral service was held in the Garland Tabernacle for the four sons of valley residents Alben and Gunda Borgstrom, all of whom died while fighting in World War II. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the military to send a fifth brother, Boyd, home from the Pacific, according to a 1998 Deseret News article.
"LDS Church President George Albert Smith, Utah Gov. Herbert Maw and Gen. Mark W. Clark, who directed the U.S. invasion of Italy and subsequently was commander of the Presidio in San Francisco, attended the service. Both President Smith and Clark spoke.
"President Thomas S. Monson talked about the Borgstrom funeral in his October 1999 general conference talk, "Becoming Our Best Selves."
In March 2025, state Route 102, a 20-mile roadway which extends from Deweyville west to Tremonton, then further west and south to state Route 83, per legislation approved by Utah lawmakers during the recent session, is to become the Borgstrom Brothers Memorial Highway, a designation that will also be indicated on Utah road maps. The roadway passes the old site of the Borgstrom home in Thatcher.[3]
