Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Things to see - The St. George Temple

The St. George Temple
250 E 400 S

The St. George Temple is the first temple completed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the forced exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois. 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 members of the Church.



More on the St. George Temple

The temple currently has three ordinance rooms and 18 sealing rooms, and a total floor area of 110,000 feet (34,000 m). 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. In the 1970s the temple was closed and underwent extensive remodeling. Spencer W. Kimball rededicated it in 1975.

Brigham Young, President of the Church at the time, chose a six-acre plot as the temple site. Unfortunately, the Saints soon discovered that the chosen site was swampy with numerous underground streams. Young was consulted on moving the site, but the prophet remained firm in the idea that this was the site for the temple. To deal with the problem of the swampy site, the Saints created drains to eliminate as much water as possible. Then they decided to bring lava rock to the site, crush it and use the fragments 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 like a pile driver to compact the lava rock and earth and create a firm foundation.

After stabilizing the foundation, work finally began on the structure itself. The walls of the temple were constructed out of the red sandstone common to the area and then carefully plastered for a white finish. The Saints 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 a million feet of lumber, which had been hand chopped and hauled between forty and eighty miles. They also used seventeen thousand tons of volcanic rock and sandstone, hand cut and hauled by mule teams. The temple dedication ceremony took place on April 6, 1877. Brigham 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 a few days later on August 29, 1877 at age 76 years.

When the temple was completed, Young was not completely satisfied with the tower and dome; in his words, it was too "squatty." He suggested having it fixed, but the Saints were so excited to have the temple operational that Young did not push the suggestion. About a year after the dedication, on October 16, 1878, a large storm rolled through St. George and a lightning bolt struck the tower of the temple. Extensive damage made it necessary to reconstruct both the tower and dome. Young's feelings were well known and when a design was created, the tower was taller. This led the builders to claim that, even in death, Brigham Young got his way.

Temple Facts
  • The St. George Utah Temple is the oldest operating temple of the Church.
  • The St. George Utah Temple was originally named the St. George Temple.
  • The St. George Utah Temple is the only temple completed during Brigham Young's 30-year tenure as president of the Church.
  • With a total of 18 sealing rooms (not all are in active use), the St. George Utah Temple has more sealing rooms than any other temple in the Church.
  • The swampy ground chosen for the St. George Utah Temple was packed with volcanic rock using a cannon—a relic of the Mexican War—as a pile driver, on display in the visitors' center.
  • The battlements that surround the St. George Utah Temple once functioned as chimneys for numerous narrow rooms that lodged traveling guests.
  • The St. George Utah Temple was originally patterned after the Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples with two large assembly halls featuring a set of pulpits at each end. The lower hall was partitioned with screens for presentation of the endowment.
  • The St. George Utah Temple is the first temple where endowments for the dead were performed.
  • The Founding Fathers of the United States of America appeared twice to Wilford Woodruff in the St. George Utah Temple asking why their temple work had yet not been performed on their behalves. A striking painting depicting this singular event hangs in the temple lobby
  • In November 1928, fire broke out, destroying the St. George Utah Temple annex. All records and furnishings were saved. Today's annex, located on the north side of the temple, was constructed in the 1950s and serves as the entrance to the temple.
  • The St. George Utah Temple was extensively remodeled for over a year from 1937 to 1938. The lower hall was permanently divided into progressive-style muraled endowment rooms.
  • Following a second major renovation project, the St. George Utah Temple nearly doubled its 56,062 square feet. It was opened to the public for an open house and formally rededicated in 1975. The progressive-style ordinance rooms, used to present 3 live-acting endowment sessions a day, were replaced with three motion-picture ordinance rooms that presented 14 sessions a day.

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