Deseret News archives: General conference in 1867 was first held in Salt Lake Tabernacle

A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
This past weekend saw the observance and conclusion of the 194th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center.
On Oct. 6-7, 1867, the 37th Semiannual General Conference came to a close, the first very conference held in the historic Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.
And yes, there was a Tabernacle choir to add to the conference sessions.
According to historical accounts and Deseret News reporting, for the first general conference held in the Tabernacle in October 1867, President Brigham Young was so eager to hold the conference there he pushed the work forward enough to hold those first meetings. Not even all the seating was in place, so some had to stand.
In a letter dated Sept. 30, 1867, to his son, Elder Heber Young, then serving in Liverpool, England, President Young wrote:
“Our new tabernacle, though not quite finished in every respect, is yet so forward that we expect to hold our fall conference in it, commencing next Sunday. It has been pushed forward during the latter part of the summer with great diligence, and the workmen have manifested great zeal in their labors. It is a magnificent place and will answer the purpose for which it was constructed, admirably.” (”Letters of Brigham Young to His Sons,” Deseret Book, 1974, p. 131.)
The Deseret News recapped the details of the conference:
Here are wonderful historical accounts of general conference through the years from Deseret News and Church News archives:
“October marks 150 years since Salt Lake Tabernacle began hosting general conference”
“History of LDS General Conference”
“General conference through the years is different but the same”
“Noble messages”
“Church News: A brief history of general conference”
“Twila Van Leer: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir belongs to all of us”
Historically, according to churchofjesuschrist.org, Latter-day Saints held such conferences wherever they were:
“A meeting in 1833 was held on the Big Blue River ferryboat in Missouri. The scattered members continued to meet in various locations until most settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. Several summaries were published during the Nauvoo era in the Times and Seasons from November 1839 to February 1846. In 1840, a banner year for conferences, the church moved to a semiannual schedule, held its first conference outside the United States in Great Britain, and published conference talks and summaries in the Millennial Star.
“During the western exodus of the church, which began in February 1846, no general conference was held. The meetings resumed along the westward trail in Iowa and Nebraska. The meetings continued and then started again in 1848, after pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The first full report of any conference address was published in the Deseret News on April 6, 1850. In that year, the Deseret News was able to print word-for-word transcriptions because a young reporter, George D. Watt, had learned shorthand and transcribed the talks for publication.
“The first conference in the Salt Lake Valley was held in an open-air bowery. Later the pioneers built an adobe tabernacle and then moved to the world-famous Tabernacle on Temple Square in 1867. Conferences continued in the Tabernacle until 2000, when the Conference Center near Temple Square was completed and was first used for conference.”