Historical Placesfrom Binghampton
By: Clay Lawrie
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS:
BINGHAMPTON WARD
In recent years Tucson has become a mid-size city, with a population over 500,000
people. Tucson has grown rapidly;
forty years ago the population was less than half of what it is today.
When one looks at it they see a new city but
also an old town.
Tucson has characterizes of a modern western city: it is very spread out,
and filled with low-level structures.
Among these modern buildings, one can also find older more traditional buildings that
reflect a time when the city was just a small town.
One such building that shows this reflection of time is The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Binghampton ward.
The Binghampton ward is located at 3750, Fort Lowell Ave. The construction of the church began in 1927 and was not finished until September of 1936. There was much pride taken in building the church; the Mormon community worked for nine years to raise the funds needed. As the funds were raised the Mormon community built the church piece by piece. This was one of the first establishments for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tucson. What I first noticed about the church was how elegant it looked. Inside the chapel there is still the original woodwork. Although the church is remarkable, what really makes it a memorable place is not only the building itself, but also the community that it serves.
The church is a two-story structure shaped like the letter “T” with the
long part stretching north to south and the short part stretching east to west.
The roof is set on an incline, which meets in the middle of the structure
and is made of red ceramic tile.
The outside walls shine with very clean, off-white stucco.
On the north wall there are eight windows, which stand twenty feet tall
and one foot wide; these windows are set in four pairs of two.
In between each pair of windows are
very tall evergreen trees.
This shows you that the building has been around for a long time: the trees were
deliberately planted between each pair of windows.
They have had so much time to grow, that they are now taller than the church.
Around the walls of the church, is a green, manicured lawn.
On the corners of the lawn are evergreen bushes, which stand around four feet tall.
Surrounding the lawn and building on all sides is a large parking lot.
The edge of the property next to Fort Lowell Ave. is decorated with desert shrub, which is more typical of Tucson. In the past, there used to be a pool where the rear parking lot is now. In fact, the pool was finished a year before the church was. Members of the Binghampton church, such as Duane Bingham, remember spending the summer at the pool, for there was no air conditioning until 1960. The pool was taken out in 1979, to make parking for the growing community of the church.
When you first enter the front doors you go up a small flight of stairs, which enter onto the foyer. The foyer is an open room meant for greeting and socializing after church. Along the walls are a couple of benches, and a few wonderful paintings depicting historical times and beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first painting I noticed was of Jesus after being resurrected; you can tell this by the glowing white aura that is painted around him. In this painting, Jesus is teaching his Apostles outside of Jerusalem. In the background, you can see the city with the wall around it. Another painting I saw was of the pioneers in what would later become Salt Lake City, after crossing the plains to escape persecution. You can tell the location and event by their wagons and landscape around them; there are no structures, and the seagulls found in the area.
From the foyer, one can access the chapel. This is where Sunday service is held. The chapel is a large two-story room. The inside is decorated with long dark wood pews. The walls are white with wood paneling on the bottom few feet. On the north wall is the inside of the narrow windows. In front of the pews is a raised podium where the sermon is given.
When one goes back into the foyer, they can go downstairs.
In the basement, there are three classrooms with accordion walls, which
make it possible to be one big room.
Here is
where the church teaches some of the many Sunday school classes.
The basement was part of the original structure.
It used to be one large room.
In the past, it was used for community events such as plays and dances.
During the holidays the Binghampton community would have a holiday supper
in the basement.
When one goes upstairs to the foyer from the basement they can go upstairs to what used to be the balcony. Today, it is a second floor at the back of the chapel where there are more classrooms for Sunday school. In the early days of Binghampton Church the one wall that faces the chapel was made of glass so families could see the service without disrupting other worshipers.
The other major part of the church is the cultural hall. This part of the church is an addition to the original structure and stretches north and south. This is an open area with an almost full size basketball court. There is a stage on the south end, which is where they hold plays, dances and other events that the church puts on. Although the church is remarkable, what makes it a place worth remembering is the community inside the church.
There is more to the Binghampton church than a group of people showing up every Sunday to listen to a sermon. There are many interactions between the members of the church. On Sundays, services go for three hours. For the first hour the men, women, teenagers and children all meet in separate groups. During this time the groups discuss lessons centered around church doctrine and the scriptures. These classes learn a different doctrine (theme) each year; this goes in a cycle for five years, and then goes back to the first doctrine, to learn more about it. This is so one never stops learning new material about their faith, and lessons about life. For men and women, the lessons are about the same doctrine. This is to encourage discussion between them outside of church. For the second hour the young adults and adults all meet together for Sunday school. For the last hour everyone meets in the chapel for Sacrament.
There are also many activities that occur other days of the week. Tuesday night youth group meets. Here the youth do a variety of activities. Some nights they play sports, such as volleyball, softball. Other nights they learn about etiquette, which teaches them about socially acceptable behavior. Some nights they do service projects; such as canned food drives. The kids plan future activities every three months.
Once a month there is a class for women where they learn traditional arts, like sewing, quilting, and cooking. Also once a month, there is family sports night. On this night there are many sports available so people can play what they want, such as basketball or volleyball in the cultural center, or softball at the playing fields that the church owns just one block north of the church. At the playing fields park they also have Saturday afternoon barbecues from time to time. Family night isa big success, with church members spending the evening with their families enjoying lessons, games, food, and fun.
The family night is not a new element for the community of the Binghampton church. Ever since the church was built it has had a social atmosphere. In the past, every Friday there would be a dance or play in the church basement. On holidays, they would have their supper together in the church basement. Families would spend their summers together at the pool. There were many days spent outdoors with children’s activities, such as races and the ‘turkey catch’. None of these activities were restricted to members of the church; anyone was welcome and that is the way it is today.
The community has always enjoyed the good times and has stuck together through the
bad times.
In February of 1920 there was an outbreak of small pox and they had to quarantine the sick.
The church was unable to meet for service until that following September.
They
did not meet in order to keep as many people as possible from getting sick.
There have been basement floods.
There was one in June of 1949, and July was spent repairing and painting the basement.
The church has always come to help a family in need.
The Relief Society is composed of the women in the church.
They have always felt that this is their responsibility to help others.
Whenever there is any tragedy whether someone in the church is injured or
has past away, the relief society has helped in any way it can from making meals
for the family or helping with funeral expenses.
In 1910 settlers of Binghampton established one of the first branches of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They saw rapid growth over the years. In 1942 the establishment became a ward, which meant they had a Bishop. Today the Binghampton ward is part of a stake, which is composed of eight wards. There are five stakes in Tucson, and each stake has approximately 3,500 people in it. There are Mormons all over the world and Tucson has one of the biggest Mormon settlements. What makes a place is not just the structure, but also the community it serves. Robert D. Kaplan once wrote an article called “Travels into AmericasFuture” with a section about Tucson for the Atlantic Monthly that, “since1980 there has been a real decline in community life” and “people who live in Tucson have come here just to be left alone” (Kaplan 3 part 2). I believe that the vibrant community life of The Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints, Binghampton Ward and the Mormon community is strong evidence that Kaplan failed to examine sufficiently the city about which he wrote. Tucson is a very large community and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Binghampton ward is one of the many wonderful pieces of that community.