A traveling evangelist helped raised money for the construction of what became Hopkinsville’s first convention center.
It was the Union Tabernacle, built in 1893 at the southeast corner of West Seventh Street and Cleveland Avenue — which today is the Christian County Justice Center’s parking lot, across the street from the Christian County Jail.
Sam Jones, a Methodist preacher from Atlanta who led four revival meetings in a tobacco loose floor warehouse in Hopkinsville, helped local religious leaders raise $4,200 for construction of the 2,000-seat auditorium, according to Christian County Historian William T. Turner’s account in two books — “Postcard History Series: Hopkinsville,” co-written with Donna K. Stones in 2006, and “Images of America: Christian County,” co-written with Chris Gilkey in 2008.
Jones, who was known for directing his sermons at men and preaching against alcohol consumption, was one of the South’s most famous evangelists in his day. He was a lawyer and successful businessman before becoming a preacher.
Several years before he raised money for the Union Tabernacle in Hopkinsville, Jones was preaching for a revival in Nashville. Jones reportedly converted Thomas Green Ryman and together they built the Union Gospel Tabernacle. After the building closed as a church, it became the Ryman Auditorium and home to the Grand Ole Opry.
The Union Tabernacle in Hopkinsville was a popular auditorium for religious, political and social events. Among several famous Americans who spoke or entertained there were Booker T. Washington, Dwight L. Moody, Theodore Roosevelt, John Philip Sousa and his band, William Jennings Bryant, Ethel Barrymore and Eddie Rickenbacker.
The auditorium’s proximity to Little River was not advantageous. Repeated flooding, and neglect, was its downfall. In 1941, the Union Tabernacle was torn down.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
