Cultural Hall, Illinois, United States
5.0 (1 review) Spent Ranking #15 in Nauvoo Historic Sites • Points of Interest & Landmarks • Architectural Buildings
The heart of Old Nauvoo's social life
The Cultural Hall was the heart of Old Nauvoo's social life, the community's cultural center, where the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints gathered for church and civic and social activities. Located at 315 Main Street, near the Brigham Young Home, the three-story cultural and masonic hall was built in the early 1840s by Lucius Scovil, who owned the bakery next door and was instrumental in the design and construction of the building. Dedicated in 1844, it had at least 26 different uses while the Mormons were in Nauvoo. It served as the principal meeting location for the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge, served as a police office and headquarters of the Nauvoo Legion and also was used to store firearms and to conduct plays, theatrical productions, funerals, church meetings, dances, banquets and art exhibits. Plays and theatrical productions were held on the ground floor. Brigham Young performed in the first play, Pizarro, a popular play of the time in England and the United States. Offices of the Nauvoo Legion were on the second floor. The Masonic Lodge met on the third floor, which also hosted dances and banquets. When the Mormons were forced out of Illinois in 1846, the benches were removed from the hall and the space was used to construct wagon boxes for the trek west. The church purchased the building in 1967 and began restoration in 1977, finally restoring it so as to appear as it did in the 1840s. Today, Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo, a musical comedy and drama about life in Nauvoo, is performed nightly by missionaries throughout the year.
Address
315 Main Street, Nauvoo, IL 62354
Mobile
Current local date and time now
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 11:20
User Ratings
5.0 based on (1 review)
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