St. George Utah Temple

St. George Utah Temple
Number	1
Dedication	6 April 1877 (6 April 1877) by Daniel H. Wells
Site	6 acres (2.4 hectares)
Floor area	110,000 sq ft (10,000 m2)
Height	175 ft (53 m)
Preceded by	Nauvoo Temple
Followed by	Logan Utah Temple
Official website • News & images
Additional information Announcement 31 January 1871 Groundbreaking 9 November 1871 by Brigham Young Open House 15–25 October 1975 Rededication 11 November 1975 by Spencer W. Kimball Designed by Truman O. Angell Location 250 East 400 South St. George, Utah United States Exterior finish Native red sandstone plastered white. Temple design Castellated Gothic Ordinance rooms 3 with Movie, stationary sessions Sealing rooms 18 Clothing rental Yes Cafeteria Full services Visitors'  center Yes Notes A private dedication was held on January 1, 1877 by Erastus Snow. The original tower of 147 feet was disliked by Brigham Young and was struck by lightning and burned to its base after Young's death. It was rebuilt according to Young's original design with a 175 ft (53 m) tower.

The St. George Utah Temple (formerly the St. George Temple) is the first temple completed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the forced exodus of the body of the Church from Nauvoo, Illinois, after the death of its founder Joseph Smith, Jr.

Description

The building is located in the SW Utah city of St. George. It was designed by Truman O. Angell and is more similar in its design to the Nauvoo Temple than to later LDS temples. The St. George Temple is the oldest temple still actively used by the LDS Church. The temple currently has three ordinance rooms and 18 sealing rooms, and a total floor area of 110,000 ft² (10,000 m²). It was originally designed with two large assembly halls like the earlier Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples. The lower Assembly Hall was partitioned with curtains to provide the ordinance rooms for the Endowment Ceremony. In 1938 the lower Assembly Hall was rebuilt with permanent walls dividing it into four ordinance rooms. The four ordinance rooms were later changed into the present three rooms, at the time the endowment ceremony was changed from a live presentation to one presented on film.

In the 1970s the temple was closed for extensive remodeling. Church President Spencer W. Kimball rededicated it in 1975.

Temple construction and dedication

A temple for St. George was announced on 9 November 1871 by Brigham Young and was dedicated on 6 April 1877. Even though the Salt Lake City Temple had been announced and commenced years earlier (1847 and 1853), construction on that temple was not completed until 1893. The St. George Temple was built to satisfy the church's immediate need for an appropriate place for temple ceremonies and ordinances. Because of the pressing need, the building's groundbreaking ceremony was held on the day the temple was announced. It was the third to be completed by the church and the first one in Utah.

Brigham Young, President of the Church at the time, chose a 6-acre (24,000 m²) plot as the temple site. Builders soon discovered that the chosen site was swampy with numerous underground streams. Young was consulted on moving the site, but he remained firm in the idea that this was the site for the temple. To deal with the swampy site, workers created drains to eliminate as much water as possible. Then they brought lava rock to the site and crushed it into a gravel to create a dry foundation for the temple. This led to a new problem: how to crush the rock. Someone suggested using an old cannon that the city had acquired. After creating a pulley system, the cannon was used as a pile driver to compact the lava rock and earth and create a firm foundation.

The old cannon has an interesting history. It was made in France and used by Napoleon during his siege on Moscow. During Napoleon’s hasty retreat, however, the cannon was left behind. It was later dragged to Siberia, then Alaska, and finally ended up at a fort in California. Members of the Mormon Battalion acquired the cannon, had it mounted on wheels, and brought it to Utah. Today, the old cannon is displayed on the St. George temple grounds.

After stabilizing the foundation, work began on the structure. The walls of the temple were constructed out of the red sandstone common to the area and then plastered for a white finish. The local Church members worked tirelessly for over five and a half years to complete the temple. Historians James Allen and Glen Leonard made note of the dedication shown by the pioneers in Southern Utah. The workers opened new rock quarries, cut, hauled and planed timber, and donated one day in ten as tithing labor. Some members donated half their wages to the temple, while others gave food, clothing and other goods to aid those who were working full time on the building. Mormon women decorated the hallways with handmade rag carpets and produced fringe for the altars and pulpits from Utah-produced silk. At its completion, it contained 1,000,000 board feet (2,000 m³) of lumber, which had been hand-chopped and hauled between 40 and 80 miles (60 and 100 km). They also used 17,000 tons of volcanic rock and sandstone, hand-cut and hauled by mule teams.

The St. George Temple from its southeast corner

In honor of the temple, the Church's April 1877 General Conference was held there. The temple dedication ceremony took place on 6 April 1877. Young presided and Daniel H. Wells, his second counselor, gave the dedicatory prayer. The St. George Temple was the only temple completed while Brigham Young was president. Shortly after the dedication and the conference, Young returned to Salt Lake and died on 29 August 1877, 76 years old.

After remodeling of the interior, the temple was rededicated on 11 November 1975.

Temple Presidents

1. Wilford Woodruff, 1877–1884
2. John D. T. McAllister, 1884–1893
3. David H. Cannon, 1893–1924
4. Thomas P. Cottam, 1925–1926
5. Edward H. Snow, 1926–1932
6. George F. Whitehead, 1932–1937
7. Harold S. Snow, 1937–1963
8. Rudger C. Atkin, 1963–1970
9. Reed Whipple, 1970–1976
10. Grant M. Bowler, 1976–1981
11. John M. Russon, 1981–1986
12. Thomas L. Esplin, 1986–1989
13. Conrad V. Hatch, 1989–1992
14. J. Thomas Fyans, 1992–1995
15. Kenneth R. Metcalf, 1995–1998
16. Malcolm S. Jeppsen, 1998–2001
17. L. David Muir, 2001–2004
18. Harold H. Hiskey, 2004–2007
19. Robert F. Orton, 2007–2010
20. Bruce C. Hafen, 2010–present

Access

Temple access is available to Church members who hold a current Temple Recommend, as is the case with all operating Latter-Day Saints temples. An adjacent visitors center is open to the public. An LDS church meetinghouse is across the street on the East, which is also open to the public.

See also

• Temple (Latter Day Saints)
• List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by geographic region
• Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Temple architecture (Latter-day Saints)
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah

References

• Allen, James B. and Leonard, Glen M. (1976, 1992) The Story of the Latter-day Saints; Deseret Book; ISBN 0-87579-565-X

External links

• Official LDS St. George Utah Temple page
• St. George Utah Temple Page
• St. George Utah Temple Page