We still dedicate new chapels, sometimes with open houses and invitations to the surrounding community, but I think as the Church has grown that temple open houses have taken the spotlight from chapel open houses. Our history, though, is filled with chapel dedications, many of them conducted by general authorities, and many of them memorialized by booklets like this one from Susanville, California, dated 1929.
Susanville is in the northeastern part of the state, in a beautifully mountainous logging region in the shadow of the volcano Mt. Lassen. When I lived there in the 1970s (go, Grizzlies!), there was a single ward, part of the Reno North Stake; now there are two wards, with stake headquarters at Quincy, California. The 1929 chapel was replaced in the 1960s.
But in 1929, the branch was delighted to have this small new home, all their own.
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What a great idea — a souvenir, a remembrance, for the attendees to take home.
I’m surprised every time I’m reminded of our shared Susanville roots. It’s a shame this building didn’t get kept when the new one was built. Would have been nice to see the history in use.