I arrived in Providence, UT, via nearby Logan, a little more than an hour north of Salt Lake City and home to Utah State University. I’d spent the afternoon meandering along the Logan Canyon Scenic Byway, a breathtaking stretch of highway winding through the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. It had been tempting to linger along the canyon, filled with riparian forests, glacial lakes, caves and fossils, not to mention hiking trails to see all the afore-mentioned features. But my destination was a particular inn, so I dropped out of the canyon and found my way through the streets of Logan and slightly southeast, to Providence itself.

The Providence Inn has been a lot of things since it was first built between 1869 and 1871 as the Providence LDS Chapel and Meetinghouse, known more familiarly by locals as the “Old Rock Church.” Owned by the church until 1968, it served many purposes for the community, including its use for church meetings, social gatherings, dances and theatre productions. Subsequent owners adapted the building for a wide variety of uses, including the warehousing and selling of fabrics, residential housing for the elderly and, still ongoing, the hosting of weddings, receptions and other social events. The 1990’s ushered in the addition of bed and breakfast accommodations.

I took a room in the oldest section of the building, on the third floor and under the eaves of the original church building. Solid and sturdy hardly begins to describe the walls of the building, built from locally quarried limestone of a red hue. Original exposed beams, braced with forged iron, added even more of a sense of history to my room. Aptly named The Pioneer Room for its traditional décor, it was warm and inviting, with earth-toned quilt, rocking chairs and rustic wooden writing table. Even the jetted tub in the spacious bathroom had the semblance of an old-fashioned tub. Yet the additional room features of television, phone, wireless Internet access and a soothing gas fireplace made it clear this was the 21st century.

It would be unfair to not give immediate mention to the hospitality that greeted me upon my arrival at this inn. As there were several vacancies, I was allowed to see a choice of rooms and by the time I returned to the lobby an aroma of baked goods was already weaving its way through the air. Chocolate chip cookies had been popped in the oven as soon as I arrived. I was offered ice water, coffee, tea or hot chocolate. I was given a tour of the building and shown a menu of delicious breakfast options – my choices for the following morning, to be cooked to order. Complimentary DVDs were on hand and a “Dining Card,” offering discounts to local restaurants, was handed to me along with my room key. All this was provided with welcoming smiles at the front desk, as well as from Nina, General Manager and a driving force behind the inn since 1999.

I set out to explore the town a bit, noting outstanding late 19th and early 20th century architecture in many of the homes and commercial buildings. As with many areas, fires have taken many structures with them. But those that remain are fascinating. The Old Rock Church itself is one of the oldest and most impressive.

I wasn’t about to waste my dining card and discount, so I weighed my options and decided to head over to Café Sabor, a Mexican restaurant housed in an old train station. With a Santa Fe train as a backdrop, I ordered up some fajitas and soaked in the ambiance of the depot’s high ceiling, rich gold-hued walls and stately wooden doors. Fresh flour tortillas were being cooked on a rotating metal surface. Locals gathered over baskets of chips and bowls of salsa. It was clearly a popular eatery.

Post-fajitas, I returned to the inn and grabbed a treat from the seemingly bottomless cookie platter in the lobby and climbed the stairs to my room, where I curled up on the bed with brochures on Logan Canyon, Cache Valley and the Mormon Pioneer Trail. As back-up, I had a stack of movies from the downstairs lobby. Travel can’t always be about research. I was prepared to relax a little.

Breakfast at Providence Inn is either delivered to rooms or offered downstairs, which is where I chose to have my morning meal. Housed in a slightly newer section of the building, a Georgian wing that was added to The Old Rock Church in 1926, the room’s cornflower blue walls with white trims were the perfect surrounding for tables with blue teapot print tablecloths. Morning sun flooded in through tall windows framed by white lace curtains. Soft piano music added an unobtrusive background. Oil paintings in gold frames alternated with collections of china plates and vases. It was elegant, yet comfortable.

As penance for hitting the cookie platter more than once the night before, I bypassed the option of stuffed French toast with hot baked apple topping and ordered a tomato, mushroom and cheese omelette, accompanied by orange juice and an English muffin. I would sip coffee and enjoy the pleasing environment for some time after finishing the meal.

Not surprisingly, the building that houses the Providence Inn is on the National Register of Historic Places. Each round of ownership over the years has added substantial improvements to the property, not only aesthetically, but in terms of structural and safety provisions. Community interest in preserving the building and its heritage has played a major factor in saving it from falling into disrepair along the way.

I couldn’t resist a peek into the main floor of the old church itself. Used frequently for weddings, the chapel now boasts a circular staircase, adorned with sparking lights and white netting, which can fulfill the entrance and exit dreams of even the most discerning bride. A lavish bridal dressing room adds even more to the fairytale scenario. (For the groom’s wedding preparations, a much smaller space is provided, though it has plenty of room for cold feet.)

It’s to the credit of the current owners, as well as those who contributed along the way, that the Old Rock Church continues to provide a variety of uses for the local area, as well as for guests who are just passing through. The building is available to the community in much the same way that it was over a century ago, when dances kept the floors tapping with rhythm and theatre productions gathered people together.

Providence Inn and the Old Rock Church promise to welcome visitors for many years to come. An Arts and Crafts home on adjoining property was recently purchased and renovated, offering additional rooms for the inn. The gardens are tended meticulously and a new monument to the Providence pioneers was just dedicated on the grounds in June of 2009.

There’s much to draw people to visit this gracious, historic property: history, heritage, architecture and almost a century and a half of hospitality. And, if that’s not enough to bring the visitors in, I suspect the bottomless platter of cookies might just do the trick.