{"id":420,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:32:08","latitude":40.76973699999999922738425084389746189117431640625,"longitude":-111.8932539999999988822310115210711956024169921875,"title":"Salt Lake Assembly Hall","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/3d91d8717819dd0e9cb7e0ba6735ced9.jpg","address":"","all_locations":[],"zoom":18,"creator":["Ryan J. Hallstrom, Brigham Young University"],"description":"Brigham Young proposed building the Salt Lake Assembly Hall in August 1877, just weeks before his death. One reason for his proposal was because the Salt Lake Tabernacle proved too difficult to heat with the available technology. Like the Salt Lake Temple, the Salt Lake Assembly Hall was built out of granite from Little Cottonwood Canyon. In fact, another reason the hall was built was to make use of the leftover blocks from the ongoing Salt Lake Temple construction. The stones of the Assembly Hall however are more roughly hewn than those used for the temple. This eased the burden on skilled masons and allowed the sturdy building to be completed more quickly and cheaply. Work began soon after Brigham Young’s death under the direction of architect Obed Taylor. The hall was completed just two years later in 1879 at a cost of $90,000 dollars (which would be roughly $2.3 million dollars today). It was originally referred to as “the New Tabernacle” but soon received its official name “the Salt Lake Assembly Hall”.
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\r\nThe Assembly Hall, fitted with a steam-powered heating system and gas lights, was a much more comfortable meeting place than the vast room of the Tabernacle on cold days. On several frigid occasions the Church’s General Conference was held in the Assembly Hall, such as in October 1882 and in October 1895. Since 1889 the Assembly Hall has been used regularly as overflow seating for General Conference. Reporting on the April 1923 General Conference, the Deseret News wrote that an “amplifier”, or microphone, was used in the Tabernacle and the “proceedings were... piped into the Assembly Hall”. This was the first time that a meeting of the faith was conveyed remotely.
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\r\nOriginally, a number of murals could be seen on the ceiling of the Assembly Hall, including the temples of the Church, Church leaders, ancient prophets, and sites important in Church history. During subsequent renovations the murals were painted over and now the ceiling is plain white. An elaborate trumpeted pipe organ now dominates the hall. While it may look period to the building, it was added in the 1980’s when the hall underwent a major renovation. Also during the renovation, the wooden turret chimney finials were replaced with fiberglass replicas, shutters replaced window drapes, and flooring and benches were repaired and refinished.
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\r\nToday the Salt Lake Assembly Hall is used frequently for lectures, concerts and other performances, and overflow seating for General Conference.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"Built as a cold weather alternative to the nearby Tabernacle, the Salt Lake Assembly Hall is a meeting place, concert hall, and church building for Latter-day Saints and the Salt Lake community.","website":"","related_resources":["“Assembly Hall.” Assembly Hall. Accessed April 3, 2020. https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/about/organs/organ-information/assembly-hall.html.","Colvin, Don F. “Quarrying the Temple Granite.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. October 1975 Ensign. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1975/10/discovery/quarrying-the-temple-granite?lang=eng.","“Corpus of LDS General Conference Talks, 1851-2019.” (Search: Assembly Hall) Corpus of LDS General Conference Talks, 1851-2019. Accessed April 21, 2020. https://www.lds-general-conference.org/","“Corpus of LDS General Conference Talks, 1851-2019.” (Search: Assembly Hall) Corpus of LDS General Conference Talks, 1851-2019. Accessed April 21, 2020. https://www.lds-general-conference.org/.","Jolley, JoAnn. “Century-Old Assembly Hall Is Renovated.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. February 1983 Ensign. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1983/02/century-old-assembly-hall-is-renovated?lang=eng","Peterson, Paul H. \"Accommodating the Saints at General Conference,\" BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 41 : Iss. 2 , Article 2 (2002). https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol41/iss2/2","Stevenson, Lucy. “7 Things You Didn't Know About the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.” LDS Living, August 8, 2018. https://www.ldsliving.com/7-Things-You-Didn-t-Know-About-the-Assembly-Hall/s/88956.","Webster, Ian. “Inflation Rate between 1879-2020: Inflation Calculator.” $90,000 in 1879 → 2020 Inflation Calculator. Alioth LLC. Accessed April 3, 2020. https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1879?amount=90000."],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/3d91d8717819dd0e9cb7e0ba6735ced9.jpg":{"id":1744,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"The Salt Lake Assembly Hall on Temple Square","description":"”On the southwest corner of Temple Square is the Assembly Hall, a charming Gothic-style building with lovely stained-glass windows. This jewel of a building was constructed by Latter-day Saints between 1877 and 1882.” (ChurchofJesusChrist). | “Assembly Hall” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, n.d. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/locations/temple-square-assembly-hall/images/AssemblyHallExterior1_Detail.jpg.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/3d91d8717819dd0e9cb7e0ba6735ced9.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/4ca3cc45b5b30b0675fb4fde27ddc78c.jpg":{"id":1745,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Early look inside the Assembly Hall","description":"Interior photo shows the Assembly Hall on Temple Square before the ceiling murals were painted over. | Salt Lake City Assembly Hall P.12. Utah State Historical Society. Utah State Historical Society Classified Photo Collection. July 26, 2007. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=435250&q=Salt Lake City Assembly Hall.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/4ca3cc45b5b30b0675fb4fde27ddc78c.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/8642b71bb3c02c2d7010979378482c2f.jpg":{"id":1746,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Newly completed Assembly Hall","description":"In this early picture, the northeast corner of the Assembly Hall is shown. The newly completed building is surrounded with remaining leftover granite blocks. | Salt Lake City Assembly Hall P.7. Utah State Historical Society. Utah State Historical Society Classified Photo Collection. July 26, 2007. ","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/8642b71bb3c02c2d7010979378482c2f.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/8cd23f052035e11a16a88b67c03f5a2e.jpg":{"id":1747,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"The Salt Lake Assembly Hall Organ","description":"Since 1983 this magnificent 3,489-pipe organ has been the centerpiece of the Salt Lake Assembly Hall. | Wilson , David. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interior_Assembly_Hall,_Salt_Lake_City,_UT.jpg, January 5, 2016.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/8cd23f052035e11a16a88b67c03f5a2e.jpg"}}}