Settled in 1864, Ovid was among the first permanent communities in the Bear Lake Valley, where Mormon pioneers led by Charles C. Rich established early settlements after entering through Emigration Canyon. Its first residents were predominantly Scandinavian immigrants, and its first home was a dugout cabin built by Thomas C. Peterson. Paris had been settled in 1863, and Ovid followed in 1864 along with several other towns, including Montpelier to the east. Over time, Ovid supported homes, shops, churches, a school, a post office, a railroad stop, and a dance hall. The old Ovid chapel, visible on the west side of US-89, was built in 1896 to replace a church from 1880, which had itself replaced the town's first public meetinghouse that served as a school, public center, and church. Local accounts recalled that the church cost $3,000 to build, with $500 provided by headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the rest raised by local residents, partly through sales of donated livestock. A gathering at the church was photographed around 1904 before the large front tower was shortened, and the church officially closed on July 2, 1967. Elizabeth Sorensen's general store was founded in 1905 and was known locally as a place to buy groceries, dry goods, and shoes. In 1911, the Olson brothers opened a modern dance hall in Ovid where dances such as the Oxford Minuet, Mesuvieann, and Berlin Polka were featured; it burned in 1918 and was never rebuilt.