The Logan Tabernacle is a tabernacle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and is located in Logan, Cache County, Utah. It is the site of many local celebrations, including the city’s annual Summerfest Arts Faire.
Several historic markers are located here, including:
Located at 50 North Main Street in Logan, Utah and added to the National Register of Historic Places (#75001800) on October 15, 1975.
Construction work on the Logan Tabernacle began in 1864, five years after the settlement of Cache Valley. Although the tabernacle was off to a good start with 1864 meeting, the not dedicated some I75 persons subscribing a total of $26,450 at a December 7, 1864 meeting, the project lagged for several reasons and the completed tabernacle was until 1891, more than a quarter century after the work began.
The heavy increase of population in Cache Valley led to the establishment of many wards in the area with each ward having the responsibility to construct its own meetinghouse. The building of these ward chapels absorbed most of the available labor and cash. Work on the Tabernacle was also slowed because of the absence of several church officials on missionary work and the deaths of leaders, Ezra T. Benson and Peter Maughan. After 1877 and the decision to construct the Logan Temple, the tabernacle was given second priority. In 1877, Charles O. Card, Superintendent of construction of the Tabernacle, was transferred to supervise the building of the Logan Temple, and Bishop Anthon Skanchy was assigned to supervise work on the Tabernacle until its completion.
In an 1873 visit to Logan, Brigham Young advised that the original 60 foot by 106 foot foundation be torn out and enlarged to 65 feet by 130 feet. On January 1874, the basement story was dedicated. By 1878, the upper story was sufficiently complete to hold the August quarterly conference there. The present entrance and tower were built later under the direction of George Cole and in November 1891 the completed tabernacle was dedicated by President Wilford Woodruff.
The Logan tabernacle derives its significance from its architectural qualities, its function as the primary LDS meeting hall in Cache Valley and its story of twenty seven years of construction at a time of economic austerity and when the church members efforts were strained by other building projects.
With its variant design elements, the Logan tabernacle is classically eclectic in its architectural styling. A rendering drawn prior to 1875 shows the original intention of combining Gothic, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and perhaps other classical and revival features in the building. The present edifice is very much like the building depicted in the old rendering, The dark stone tabernacle is rectangular in plan, measuring 65 x 150 feet, The height to the top of the tower is 135 feet. The upper floor consists of one room and a vestry while the basement contains eight rooms. The interior is beautifully finished with the woodworking and seats being grained, the floors carpeted and the walls and ceilings frescoed with original designs. The tabernacle is used for stake conferences and other large gatherings and will comfortably seat 4,000 people, including seating in the gallery. The building cost has been estimated at $100,000.
The general form of the tabernacle follows the usual pattern for early Mormon meetinghouses — that of a simply gabled box with an engaged central tower in the front façade. To this form is added much relief and interest through varied detailing. Features include buttresses with stone of alternating colors, quoins of white stone at the building corners and around all the window and door bays, a molded cornice with full return across the front wall and butting into the tower; a vestry which extends outward from the tower and is capped with small, stone pinnacles; soaring windows with central mullions and segmented arches; a round window with the Star of David motif within on the tower; and a wooden lantern or steeple which I is ornately milled and topped with a golden dome and several finials. While these are the dominant features, there are many others that add to the rich quality of the design.
Located at 175 North 300 East in Logan Utah and added to the National Register of Historic Places (#75001801) on November 20, 1975 – the text below is from the nomination form from the national register:
The Logan Temple has been defined as the structural and spiritual symbol of Cache Valley. Built on a hill near the center of Logan, the temple can be seen from almost every part of the valley,
Worship in the LDS temples is restricted to the devout and faithful members of the Mormon Church and the Logan Temple is, for the Mormons of northern Utah and southern Idaho, the most important religious shrine in their vicinity,
In 1871, Wilford Woodruff, at that time a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, while speaking at Logan predicted that a temple would be built on the east bench of Logan and two years later Brigham Young also suggested that ” fine temple … be built on the bench crowning the eastern part of the city.” (quoted in Joel E. Ricks, ed., The History of a Valley, p. 283.)
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on May 18, 1877. Brigham Young, presiding at the dedication, outlined the procedure by which the temple would be built “We require the brethren and sisters to go to with their might and erect this temple; and from the architect to the boy who carried the drinking water, to the men that work on the building, we wish them to understand that wages are out of the question. We are going to build a house for ourselves, and we shall expect the brethren and sisters, neighborhood after neighborhood, ward after ward, to turn out their proportion of men to come here and labor as they shall be notified by the proper authorities.” (quoted in Leonard J. Arrington and Melvin A, Larkin, “The Logan Tabernacle and Temple,” Utah Historical Quarterly, Summer, 1973, p. 305.)
Six temple industries were established to provide materials for the temple construction:
A sawmill was established in Temple Fork (Mauqhan’s Fork) in Logan Canyon. Here they cut red pine (Douglas fir).
A wood camp was set up a few miles down the canyon. This provided firewood, for the lime kilns and scaffolding for workmen, railroad ties for sale, and telegraph poles for their cooperative Deseret Telegraph Company.
A lime kiln was built in the mouth of the canyon. The firewood to provide fuel was floated downstream on the Logan River.
The main stone quarry was developed in Green Canyon, east of North Logan. Here they quarried the dark fucoid quartzite which is the main component of the exterior walls.
Another quarry in Hyde Park Canyon provided additional stone for the walls.
A third quarry northeast of Franklin supplied sandstone for the water tables, caps, and window ledges. (Ibid., p. 306.)
In addition to supplying materials for the temple f the industries also provided building materials used in the erection of homes, farms and businesses by those temple employees who received their pay in these essential supplies.
Records indicate that a total of $607,000 was donated for the temple construction in the following categories: $30,000 in merchandise (5 percent) $30,000 in livestock (5 percent) $71,000 in produce (12 percent) $93,000 in cash (15 percent) $380,000 in labor (63 percent) $3,000 in wagons and teams (Ibid., p. 308.)
The temple was under construction for seven years, from 1877 to 1884, during which time about one hundred fifty men and fifty teams worked constantly on the temple or at the temple industries.
Truman O. Angell, architect for the Salt Lake temple, St, George temple, Beehive House, Lion House and Territorial Capitol at Fillmore, also designed the Logan temple. The temple was formally dedicated on May 17, 1884.
In their article, Arrington and Larkin explain the economic significance of the temple project:
“In essence, the temple project was a means of redistributing income. Those of greater property and income supported craftsmen and laborers to work on the temple during the seven years of construction, Since the materials were nearly all supplied locally, the money, labor, and materials were not lost to the community. Very little was expended outside the valley, In essence, those able to furnish resources did so, and the community economy thus was enriched. In most frontier economies, surplus resources were used to build large homes for the wealthy. In Cache Valley, such large homes were products of the twentieth century when there were not projects as effective as the tabernacle and temple in utilizing surplus for the benefit of the entire community.” (Ibid., pp. 309-310).
Symbolically they conclude:
“The temple was a kind of private mountain a corporeal embodiment of their ideals a formidable defender of the Saints’ way of life, symbolically guarding the church from the threats of the larger society around them, It was also a symbol of their reaching out to God of their closeness to God a place to which the Savior would come to dwell with them, In many respects the temple came to be regarded almost in a mystical sense, In actuality, it was a more explicit formulation of the rugged and majestic mountains around them a man-made sentinel, guarding their Promised Valley.
“Today the Logan Temple can be seen from almost every part of the valley. It symbolically demonstrates the early settlers’ belief that life is more than a struggle for physical survival. To the twenty-five thousand persons who built it and labored on it ‘without purse or scrip,’ it was a visual reminder of the omnipresence of eternity. “ (Ibid., p. 314).
I grew up listening to President Boyd K. Packer and loved him. I stopped by to get pictures of President Lorenzo Snow’s gravesite and some of my family’s as well and was surprised to see this one here.
This religious and civic leader, husband, father, and good Samaritan was born in Salt Lake City on August 21, 1927. He grew up on the west side of the city, the second of six children. In 1944, he enrolled at the University of Utah where he met his future wife, Frances Beverly Johnson. This was the beginning of his lifelong love of the University. After serving for a short time with the US Navy, he graduated cum laude in 1948 from the School of Business with a degree in marketing and a minor in economics.
Shortly after graduating, he married Frances in 1948. They are the parents of three children, with eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.
He taught courses for the University of Utah’s College of Business and was later awarded the University of Utah’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1966 and an Honorary Doctor of Business in 2007. In 2009 he was honored as the distinguished University of Utah Fan of the Game during a game against Air Force. He also obtained an MBA and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Brigham Young University.
Called as a leader for his religious congregation at age 22, he spent his life ministering to the needs of others. He was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1963, at the age of 36, and became the sixteenth president of the Church in 2008.
Thomas S. Monson served in a number of civic and professional capacities, on the board of many local businesses, the Utah State Board of Higher Education, the Utah State Board of Regents, and as a member of the Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives appointed by President Ronald Reagan. He also served as a member of the National Executive Board of Boy Scouts of America for 48 years.
Thomas S. Monson will be remembered as one of the most influential leaders of our time because he led by love and example. His life, leadership, and vision played a significant role in the development of both a global religion and a local community. Those who knew him well recognized him as a warm, genuine, man of action and faith, who devoted his life to lifting others. – From the Thomas S. Monson Center
