Random Rambler: The Haunted Granite Church

The Granite LD$ Ward Chapel/Avard Fairbanks Studio is a neat old church building completed in 1905. It was built with granite blocks quarried from the Temple Quarry Trail.

I grew up near here and have always been fascinated with the building so when I heard they were doing a haunt, and letting people inside I was just absolutely thrilled! The haunt itself was fun, and informative, but honestly, I just wanted to be able to go inside the old building!

I showed up early, with my camera around my neck, and they assumed I was their photographer for a minute… after clearing up that no, I just like to take pictures they informed me that they don’t want me taking pictures inside today. Alright. I clarified if I could take pictures of the outside and they said that was fine. So, I was a little sad about not getting pictures inside, but I was thrilled that I could get better shots of the building form inside the fence, without trespassing so I will take that!

Little grump. I saw people filming with their phones during the entire haunt. So I was tempted to use my phone too, but I was specifically told no pictures of the inside, so I respected that.

Quick Details:

Length: Meh, maybe ~1000 feet or so.
Trail Type: A slightly awkward figure 8.
Difficulty: Quite a few stairs, including a really, really steep staircase towards the end (Which I think can be skipped if you can't do it). DR3.
Elevation Gain: 3 stories or so.
Restroom: I noticed restrooms along the way, but I don't think they are for public use... so I would plan on other options.
Dogs? No.
Other Info: Fee area. $12 per adult. $6 per child (as of 2026). The fee goes to the preservations efforts of the building.

To Get Here:

Take i15 to the 90th south exit heading east. Go about 5.3 miles then turn right on 3100 east. Go about 3/10ths of a mile. Find street parking. There is Granite Elementary nearby as well with lots of parking, but we noticed they did some kind of Trunk or Treat tonight as well, so that may not be the best option.

9795 S 3100 E, Sandy, UT 84092

The mountains look great today (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

Pretty red trees (PSP).

Little Cottonwood Canyon (PSP).

Lone Peak (PSP).

The Trail:

The old church.

So… my dumbass put in our calendar an hour earlier than the actual start time… so when we showed up a half hour early with my camera around my neck the guy asked me if I was the photographer they hired. I was like… well I am a photographer, but not your guy…

He asked me for a card…

I said I am not a professional… I just like to take pictures.

He then conferred with his father who stated he didn’t think there should be pictures of the inside today…. but they have a guy that will be videoing.

Okay, cool. I can respect that.

I asked if it was okay to take pictures of the outside? and was told that was fine. So, here we go.

The church.

The tower.

Back entrance.

The tower again.

Fun little graveyard.

The front.

Again.

The church was completed in 1905 in a Victorian Romanesque style. as a meeting house for the LD$ church. It was built out of stones quarried from the Temple Quarry Trail.

In 1965 its cornerstone was moved to another building signaling it’s end as a religious gathering spot. Shortly after renowned artist Avard Fairbanks purchased the building for a mere $2000 (about $21,000 in todays money, still wayyyyy less than an average house) Fairbanks used it as his studio.

Some of his work can be found at Temple Square, on universities and capitol buildings (including 3 statues at the Utah State Capitol). As well as the charging ram used by Dodge. He used the building until his death in 1987. The family hopes to restore the building and eventually turn it into a museum and concert hall someday.

I hope I live long enough to see that happen!

I’m not sure if this is a small orchard, or just placed trees.

Kind of spooky.

The granite base, which again was harvested at the Temple Quarry.

According to story they told us today, this was the first strike in this churches haunted history. They were specifically told not to harvest rocks in a certain section of the quarry. As the speaker said, that instruction was lost/forgotten/ignored eventually and the rocks that came here to build this foundation came for that forbidden area. Why was it forbidden? According to the speaker, it was over a Native American burial.

The church again.

The next story we were told was of the white woman, who has been seen by several people, including some of the family that owns it now. Just a few years after the church was built a woman was heading to the the church for her wedding, carrying her wedding dress in s package on her lap. There was a horrific accident that killed her. Her funeral service was held in this church. Her family ended up selling her unworn wedding dress to pay for the service. 2 years later the woman who purchased her dress got married in this church to… the dead woman's former fiancé.

I mean shit. Talk about walking over someone's grave, and then some! It is no wonder her spirit is restless!

Front.

Back.

So, I mentioned I grew up near here right? I heard a lot more stories other than the white woman. I knew a family that claimed to have lived here for a few months and they told me about many more disturbances than were mentioned today.

But you know. It is a spooky looking old building, that has been boarded up and fenced off for as long as I can remember, so looking back, I think I can take a lot of those stories with a grain of salt.

The back again.

I assumed that this back section was an addition, but looking at it again, it appears to have the same original granite foundation.

The back back.

Around the other side.

Again.

Gnarly old tree.

Back to the church.

I would love to see what the windows look like!

Local legend I found states that he used to display his busts in the windows, but sadly asshole teenagers threw rocks at them and broke a few of the windows, so he covered them up. :(

Side door.

The front tower again.

Again.

Neat old mine cart.

Back to the church.

The tower.

The whole building again.

Front gate and pile of bricks.

Spook Alley sign.

The front.

Again.

Little stich to capture it all.

The front steps.

Vertical stitch.

Fun bronze statues.

Bonus: Next door has some fun decorations.

Oooh spooky!

I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but I love the spooky devil pioneer woman.

Fun cemetery.

Grim reaper.

More fun stuff.

The front.

After this I put my camera away since I was told no inside pictures and we waited a couple more minutes for the haunt.

Honestly, I really just wanted to see the inside of the building. The haunt was just extra, but it was fun! Not at all what I was expecting, but still really neat!

The entrance room had some neat busts and art, they took our money and handed us a coin. Then we were lead into the main chapel. They had some super, super old pews. I don’t think they were original pews, since they were not long wooden benches, but they looked super old.

There was also a lot of old art, just everywhere. Giant heads of Washington and Lincoln. Other sculptures, and paintings. The Chapel had a stage with stage lights. There was someone actually playing an organ! Wow! We were seated like we were at church.

Since we were the first group we experienced some… opening hour issues haha. But, I didn’t care about that, I was here for the neat building!

Anyway, here they told us the stories I mentioned before of the forbidden granite stones, and the white bride.

Then we were ushered into the backstage area, where we were told more about the white bride, and an alien spacecraft (I am sure that was just for the haunt and is not at all related to the history of the place). We saw a few more sculptures here, including a model of one that is at This Is The Place as someone pointed out.

Then we were ushered into a back room where a witch told us her tales and gave us candies in a neat room covered in loads and loads of paintings, drawings, and other art.

Then we moved downstairs into an Egyptian themed room, which moved into Dracula and his bride. Then to a Dorian Gray-ish piece. Then a electrocution and then to Frankenstein and a mad scientist. Then we moved into a Knights of the Round Table room.

Finally we moved into the basement which had super, super steep stairs and was very tiny and cramped. And vey very creepy. They had a good jumpscare down there that scared Landis silly! Then back up and out the side entrance. woo! That was fun!

The church at night. More lit up than I am used to.

The front.

Again.

Well, WOW!!! I am not sure what I was expecting for the haunt, honestly, I just wanted to see the inside of the building, but it was definitely a unique haunt experience with a bit of history, a bit of folklore, and a bit of sillyness. They uhm… need a little work on how it all happens though. It was a little bit of a cluster after we went down to the lower level. But again, I really just wanted to see the inside so.. the growing pains with the haunt were just that. We did get to see quite a bit of the building. I would have loved to go up the the 3rd? story but meh.

Anyway, WOW!!! That was amazing! I am super glad I decided to come out and do this for my Halloween adventure today! I wish I could have gotten some pictures of the inside, but meh. Maybe one day. I really, really enjoyed it today! 11 out of 10 bats! But I guess I can take one for the charge (which really wasn’t too bad, and does go to the restoration efforts). So 10 bats today.