Vancouver unofficially declared Jan. 11, 1909, “Tabernacle Day” as several local churches erected a space large enough to house the attendees expected for the “Cyclone” Dan Shannon revival. The Oregon evangelist wasn’t scheduled to speak until April, but the 10th Street building held 1,500 people when the county’s population was 26,115. Shannon’s revivalist rhetoric went on for days and was heard by most of the county.
Revivals were popular then, and evangelical preachers animated masses to chase out sin and the devil and renew people’s faith. Billy Sunday was the nation’s top revivalist, bringing in multitudes and gaining access to the halls of power. (Sunday and his wife owned a model farm in Hood River, Ore., where they retreated from the demands of evangelizing.)
Completed in late February, local preachers gathered their flocks in the tabernacle until Shannon appeared there briefly on Friday, March 11. Unfortunately, it proved too popular. Folks arrived early anxious about finding seats and soon overflowed the tabernacle. The Vancouver Independent worried by week’s end, people would wait with blankets and lunches. The newspaper suggested to further the builders’ work by extending the tabernacle 40 feet into 10th Street.
At meetings held every night and twice on Sunday, Shannon’s preaching and hours of choir music drew large crowds. The cyclone railed against saloons. Soldiers from the Vancouver Barracks came forward, promising to abandon the vices of tobacco and drink. Local lodges, like the Odd Fellows, provided space for Shannon to preach between meetings. When the Vancouver High School student body attended, it cheered “Rah, rah, rah, Shannon!” The Portland Salvation Army Band ferried the Columbia River to perform at one meeting attended by 1,000 people.
