Ryman Auditorium

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The was first opened as the Union Gospel Tabernacle in 1892. It was built by Thomas Ryman (1843–1904), a riverboat captain and Nashville businessman who owned several saloons. After his death, the Tabernacle was renamed Ryman Auditorium in his honor. The Ryman was also the home of Trevecca Nazarene University from 1911 to 1914.citation needed] It was used for Grand Ole Opry broadcasts from 1943 until 1974, when the Opry built a larger venue just outside Nashville at the Opryland USA theme park. The Ryman then sat mostly vacant and fell into disrepair until 1992, when Emmylou Harris and her band the Nash Ramblers performed a series of concerts there (the results of which appeared on her album At the Ryman). The Harris concerts renewed interest in the restoring the Ryman; it was reopened as an intimate performance venue and museum in 1994. Audiences at the Ryman find themselves sitting in pews, the 1994 renovation notwithstanding. The seating is a reminder of the auditorium's origins as a house of worship, hence giving it the nickname 'The Mother Church of Country Music'. In 2001, the Ryman Auditorium was designated a National Historic Landmark and included in the National Register of Historic Places.