The Ryman Auditorium was built at a time when religious revivalism was attracting such a following in Nashville that Thomas Green Ryman, a recent convert himself, decided in 1888 to provide the city with a large assembly hall. Known as the Union Gospel Tabernacle until 1904, when it was renamed in honor of the late Thomas Ryman, this was for many years the largest auditorium in the South. It soon was being used less for religious meetings and more for conventions, lectures, concerts, and stage shows. The Ryman Auditorium became known to a wider audience when radio station WSM began broadcasting the weekly Grand Ole Opry from there in 1941. Country music listeners throughout the middle of the nation heard the Saturday night Opry live from the Ryman Auditorium, and thousands came from near and far to visit the Ryman for a performance. Source: Historic American Building Survey