Swiss immigrant Christian Berger and his family came to Utah in the John Ross Mormon Pioneer Company in 1860. Berger homesteaded 160 acres west of State Street between Poplar Street and 48th South. After living two years in a dugout, the family built an adobe home south of 4800 South State Street. Only 20 families lived in South Cottonwood, now known as Murray. As more Scandinavians arrived, Bergertown was created, and a cluster of small, unpainted, two-room frame houses were built, all without running water. With abundant water from the Jordan River and Big and Little Cottonwood Creeks, early residents engaged in agriculture. Bergertown became a smelting town in 1869. The Utah Southern Railroad arrived in 1871 and hired Scandinavians to lay track. The railroad contributed to the community, which became the smelting center of the West. Businesses sprang up on State Street, and Bergertown became an immigrant enclave. The Franklyn and Germania Smelters hired mostly Scandinavians. Smelting increased until 1950 and then faded into history, no longer contributing to the pollution problem. In 1883, Bishop Joseph Rawlins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, South Cottonwood Ward, allowed Scandinavians to hold services in their native language. The unofficial Scandinavian Ward met in homes until 1893, when a 20-foot by 35-foot wood meetinghouse was built on the west side of the tracks for the Murray 2nd Ward. In 1906, Stake President Frank Y. Taylor promised the Saints that if they donated liberally in the spirit of love toward a new meetinghouse, the Lord would bless them. Bishop Jacob Erekson oversaw construction of the downsized, T-shaped, Gothic-style chapel in 1907, and its dedication was held in 1911. The original ward was divided in 1959; Bishop Shirtiff presided over the 2nd Ward and Bishop Ted J. May over the new 15th Ward, and they shared the building. The building was later abandoned and used for storage. In 1977, the Alano Club, a non-profit, non-denominational support agency for recovering alcoholics, sought to buy it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints halted any commercial sale, realizing that this would be a savior of souls. Alano removed a dropped ceiling of acoustical panels and revealed the original high, historic-coved ceiling. In 2000, Alano restored the ceiling to its historic architectural integrity, and today the building is well used and maintained.