morning we slept in and checked out of our hotel, having several places we wanted to see before heading back to Jenny and Logans. The first place we went to was the St. George Tabernacle. We learned lots of interesting tidbits about it.
The Saints were sent to St. George to grow cotton....it was called The Dixie Cotton Mission because the dry hot climate was similar to other cotton growing areas it was ideal to grow there....the cotton could be made into fabric for clothing and other necessities, which the saints really needed. After the saints had been there for 7 months the people were struggling. Brigham Young advised them to build a tabernacle and a courthouse. All tithing from the church south of Cedar City was turned in for the building of the tabernacle. It gave the people a purpose and they began to thrive. Here are some pictures of the inside with some narration. It took 13 years to build.....from 1863-1871 and is said to have cost $110,000 to build. There are 4 faces on the clock tower. The tabernacle became the center of activity, as it seated 2000.
The top picture is inside looking toward the front of the tabernacle. There are 800 pipes in the organ
which are in the top corners of each side. The woodwork was all made of pine, but master woodworkers that had migrated from europe painted all the wood to look like oak and mahogany. Richard commented to me that he could just see Uncle Art and Uncle Robert looking it over and commenting on the fine craftsmanship
You can see the columns underneath the upper section. After the light fixtures were put in, they realized that they blocked the view of those seated from being able to see the front of the tabernacle. Much discussion went into what do do to solve the matter. Brigham Young called for 200 men to raise the entire upper sections so that 2 feet could be shaved off each column, which supported them. That was quite a feat!!
The upper seats on each side of the building came from the Salt Lake Temple in 1948. The chairs with the holes underneath were larger than the others for those who needed a little more space. Before they got the chairs, they sat on benches.
The light fixtures were very heavy and in order to light them they had these big stones made to use as pullies...they were kerosene in those days. They are made today out of aluminum, and of course no longer need to be lit except by flipping the switch.
The ceilings had cotton flowers and grapes carved into them. Grapes were also planted along with the cotton and grew quite well in the area. The cotton flowers also have vents in them which allowed for the soot of the lamps to be drawn up into the attic....which was much easier to clean.
There are 2244 panes of glass in the tabernacle.....80% of which are still the original panes. Because the glass came from back east it was decided that it would best be shipped around to California to reduce breakage. They did not realize however that when they went to pick up the glass that there was an $800. surcharge they would have to pay first. There was no money for this. After much prayer, those working on the building went door to door collecting monies to pay the surcharge. They collected $200. Not sure what they would do Brigham had faith they would come up with it. At the last minute, a man named Peter Nelson had exactly $600. that he wanted to donate to the building fund. That was alot of money in those days.
AND......finally, the twin spiral staircases on each side which leads to the upper seats were hand crafted.
We really enjoyed our tour of the tabernacle. Today it is used for community concerts and performances.....and church meetings. As we were finishing we were able to enjoy the sounds of 2 men from the community who were practicing for an upcoming organ/piano concert.
Tomorrow....The Brigham Young Winter Home
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Okay....for some reason the settings were changed to not allow comments....but I finally figured it out...Hooray!!
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