The Nauvoo Music and Concert Hall

Authors

Darrell Babidge

Keywords

BYU Studies, Nauvoo, Concert Hall

Abstract

On many an evening in 1845, anyone near the corner of Woodruff and Young Streets in Nauvoo, Illinois, would have heard music coming from the newly constructed Music and Concert Hall (fig. 1). The following year, the music making abruptly stopped as thousands of Nauvoo residents fled from mob violence, abandoned the city, and began their journey westward to the Great Salt Lake. Today on the same corner is an empty grassy area where children often play. This article seeks to tell the history of the Nauvoo Music and Concert Hall. This hall points to the lifeblood of music and community in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints although the hall was used for only a brief time. The people of Nauvoo placed an emphasis on music that was unusual for a frontier town. They also set a standard of providing buildings for cultural refinement that continues among the Saints today.

Recommended Citation

Babidge, Darrell (2019) "The Nauvoo Music and Concert Hall," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 58: Iss. 3, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol58/iss3/4