Rediscovering the Original Provo, Utah Tabernacle: A Mid-Nineteenth-Century Mormon Meetinghouse

Summary

The original Provo, Utah Tabernacle was constructed from 1856 to 1867. It was one of the earliest tabernacles built by the Mormon pioneers in Utah Territory. It was razed in 1919 and largely forgotten after many of its functions shifted to a second tabernacle constructed on the same city block. This second tabernacle was tragically ravaged by fire in December 2010, but the LDS Church is currently converting the burned-out shell into a new Mormon temple. In anticipation of site disturbance, the remains of the original tabernacle were detected and visualized with ground-penetrating radar in the fall of 2011. The site was then excavated from January to March 2012. The entire foundation and interior of the tabernacle’s basement was uncovered, along with many artifacts. The excavation revealed previously unknown details of the original tabernacle’s architecture and construction, and provided insight into some of the uses of this early Mormon meetinghouse.

Cite this Record

Rediscovering the Original Provo, Utah Tabernacle: A Mid-Nineteenth-Century Mormon Meetinghouse. Benjamin C. Pykles, Richard Talbot, Deborah Harris, John H. McBride. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428567)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 479