Historical Lehi
Lehi honors lost tabernacle with new historical marker
Nicole Kunze | Guest Writer
The historical marker for the Lehi Tabernacle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was unveiled on Saturday on the spot now occupied by a stake center, where the beautiful building stood from 1905 to 1962. The Lehi Silver Band transported the audience back more than half a century with its nostalgic tunes as everyone was seated for the program.
“My memories of the Tabernacle are not vivid, but all my life, I occasionally have feelings of melancholy that it no longer stands,” said Jeana Christofferson, a member of the Lehi Historical Marker Unveiling Committee, to begin the program. “It still holds a special place in my heart.”
Christofferson shared memories of the Lehi Tabernacle that she gathered from friends she had met over the years, including Gene Fullmer, the middleweight boxing champion of the world, at a Fathers & Sons banquet, another who met David O. McKay, then president of the LDS Church, there, and a friend who still remembers having a special, spiritual experience in the Tabernacle.
“Every day I would skip to school where the Legacy Center stands now, and I remember being so proud to skip past this beautiful building,” said Donna Barnes, a life-long Lehi resident. Barnes also collected memories from old Lehi residents and friends. They recalled the unique slanted floors in the Tabernacle.
“For the hundreds of stake conferences and programs, road shows, community events and even minstrel shows, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house,” said Barnes.
Longtime Lehi resident Calvin Trane remembered climbing up to the old wooden tower with his church leader, Lars Jenkins, to “take care” of the pigeons. From the audience, Gary Lewis piped in that he remembered shooting the pigeons. Donna Barnes gave her husband, Marlin, a minute to tell his story about helping an illusionist who performed at the Lehi Tabernacle. “Even though I was on the stage, I was just as amazed as everyone else,” remembered Barnes.
Donna Barnes described one of the most revered programs held in the Lehi Tabernacle, the annual Old Folks Party. “It would start in the morning with a show at the theater, then they had a lunch and dancing to the music provided by Carter’s Orchestra. Then they had a program. Everyone looked forward to the Old Folks Party,” said Barnes.
Lehi Junior High students can still recall the sound of the wrecking ball hitting the Tabernacle tower on a school day in 1962. Jane Fowler Trane, Donna Barnes’s sister, can still remember screaming and crying with her classmates that day.
Brian Warburton, historian in the Church History Department, gave a brief history of tabernacles in Utah and how they are a remnant of a bygone era. Only about 40 of the 75-100 tabernacles built in Utah are still standing.
Lehi City Councilmember Rachel Freeman spoke of the extraordinary community sacrifice that led to the construction of the Tabernacle in 1905 and then again in the early 1930s when the Church rebuilt the Tabernacle after a devastating 1929 fire. Freeman read quotes from the journals of residents who remember making bread for the workers and the sound of hammering as they sat in school. “The legacy of sacrifice endures beyond brick and mortar today,” concluded Freeman.
Christofferson brought a quart jar of nickels totaling $60 to represent the 1,200 nickels Primary children collected to pay for the cornerstone of the Lehi Tabernacle. Christofferson and her Unveiling Committee partner Julie Eldredge provided sweet rolls from Shirley’s as refreshments, a nod to the women who baked bread for the men who labored to build the Lehi Tabernacle.
Members of the Lehi Historical Society Board, current and former Lehi City Councils and the John David and Danaca Hadfield family unveiled the marker.
The marker is the 19th marker installed in the Lehi Historical Marker Program, which was founded in 2022 when the Lehi Historical Society won funding and continued support from the Hadfield family of HADCO Construction and a Lehi City PARC grant.
Event sponsors for 2026 include Strata Networks and SIRQ Construction. The unveiling of the Lehi Tabernacle Historical Marker was also sponsored by the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The next historical marker unveiling is on June 3 at 7 p.m. at the new Civic Hall, 153 N. 100 East. This marker will explain, “How Lehi Got Its Name.” For more information, see lehihistory.org or call 801-768-1570.
