St. George Utah Temple

The St. George Utah Temple (formerly the St. George Temple) is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in St. George, Utah. Completed in 1877, it was the church's third temple completed, but the first in Utah, following the migration west of members from Nauvoo, Illinois, following the death of church founder, Joseph Smith.

St. George Utah Temple
Rededication scheduled
Number1
DedicationApril 6, 1877, by Daniel H. Wells
Site6.5 acres (2.6 ha)
Floor area142,000 sq ft (13,200 m2)
Height175 ft (53 m)
Official website • News & images
Church chronology
←
Nauvoo Temple
St. George Utah Temple		 →
Logan Utah Temple
Additional information
Announced31 January 1871, by Brigham Young
Groundbreaking9 November 1871, by Brigham Young
RededicatedNovember 11, 1975, by Spencer W. Kimball
10 December 2023, by TBD[1]
Designed byTruman O. Angell
LocationSt. George, Utah, United States
Geographic coordinates37°6′1.450800″N 113°34′41.17439″W
Exterior finishNative red sandstone quarried north of the city and plastered white.
Temple designCastellated Gothic
Baptistries1
Ordinance rooms3 (stationary)
Sealing rooms18
Clothing rentalAvailable
Visitors' centerYes
NotesA 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.
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The building is located in the southwestern 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 the church's later temples. The St. George Temple is the oldest temple still actively used by the church.[2] The temple currently has three ordinance rooms and 18 sealing rooms, and a total floor area of 143,969 square feet (13,400 m2).[3] The St. George Temple was the first where church members could receive all temple ordinances for their ancestors.[4]

History

A temple in St. George was announced on November 9, 1871, by church president Brigham Young and was dedicated in 1877. Even though the Salt Lake 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. It was the third to be completed by the church and the first in Utah.[5]

Young 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. Various workers consulted Young on moving the site, but he remained firm in the idea that this was the site for the temple.[6] To address the issue, workers created drains to eliminate as much water as possible. Teams of oxen brought the large lava rocks to the site, depositing them to be crushed into gravel to create a dry foundation for the temple. However, this led to a new problem: how to crush the rock. Workmen suggested using an old cannon that the city had acquired. The old cannon was made in France and used by Napoleon during his siege on Moscow. During Napoleon's retreat the cannon was left behind. It went to Siberia, then Alaska, ending up in California. Members of the Mormon Battalion acquired the cannon, mounted it on wheels, and brought it to Utah. After creating a pulley system utilizing horsepower, the cannon was lifted thirty feet in the air, and then was used as a pile driver to compact the lava rock and earth, creating a firm foundation. Today, the old cannon is on display on the grounds of the St. George Temple.[3] [7][8]

An old photo of the St. George Temple. The upper half is covered in a white plaster, the bottom half is exposed sandstone brick. Workers can be seen on the scaffolding, which is on the lower half.
The temple under construction, the lower half of the sandstone being prepared for a whitewash coating

After stabilizing the foundation, work began on the structure. The walls of the temple were built of the red sandstone common to the area and then plastered for a white finish.[9] Local church members worked for six years to complete the temple.[10] 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. Women decorated the hallways with handmade rag carpets and produced fringe for the altars and pulpits from Utah-produced silk.[11] 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. 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, then hauled by oxen.[11]

After construction ended, the church's April 1877 general conference was held there. The temple dedication ceremony took place on April 6, 1877.[12] Daniel H. Wells, Brigham Young's second counselor in the First Presidency, gave the dedicatory prayer.[13] The St. George Temple was the only one completed while Young was president.

In 1938, the lower Assembly Hall underwent construction to subdivide four ordinance rooms. Due to damage from a lightning strike, the cupola was replaced in 1883.[14] The temple has been renovated a total of ten times, with notable renovations in 1917, 1938, and 1975.[15] The temple was closed for extensive remodeling in the 1970s and church president Spencer W. Kimball rededicated it on November 11, 1975.[16]

The St. George Temple from a distance looking up at the southeast corner, showing battlements and parapets, and the cupola. Taken before undergoing the 2019-2023 renovations, taken in 2006.
The St. George Temple from its southeast corner

On January 25, 2019, the LDS Church announced that the temple would close on November 4, 2019 for renovations.[17][18] Demolition crews removed the 20th-century additions to the north and west sides of the temple in February 2020. Additions include a skylight to the bride's room, a bride’s plaza to the east side, a baptistry entrance on the south side, steel to replace the original wood trusses of the temple, new murals, and a new heating and cooling system.[14][19] The design purpose of the refurbishments was to match the original architectural style commonly used in the 1870s and 1880s, utilizing a gold five-point star and a quatrefoil motif.[20][21]

Design

Architect and carpenter Truman O. Angell took the lead in designing the temple, while Brigham Young oversaw the project.[22][4] The concept was a modified version of the Kirtland Ohio and the original Nauvoo Illinois temples (of which Angell helped to build both). Each of the three buildings has a rectangular design with two stories, an octagonal spire, a large assembly hall for receiving the endowment, with a baptismal font in the basement (used for baptisms for the dead).

The temple sits on a 6.5-acre plot, has three ordinance rooms, eighteen sealing rooms, and has a total floor area of 143,969 square feet (13,400 m2).[3][22] The temple has multiple pedestrian plazas meant to host guests, that also host entrances to the temple, along with gardens, seating elements, and a water feature.[3]

Exterior

While the St. George Temple has a similar overall layout to the Kirtland and Nauvoo temples, the exterior designs differ. The St. George temple has a combination of Neo Gothic Architecture, combined with a French Norman Revival Style, with parapets and battlements, and inside these towers Angell introduced hexagonal staircases. Certain elements like the neoclassical pilasters of Nauvoo and Kirtland were replaced with thin buttresses, and in the space between them he added a porthole motif. Red sandstone quarried from the local area makes up the walls, with a finish of white plaster on the front.[22][4]

Interior

With completion of the temple's renovations in 2023, the interior features new furniture designed to evoke the historic pioneer era. Andy Kirby, director of the church’s historic temple renovations, said: “The interior design matches the historic temple and furnishings that would have been appropriate in the 1870s and 1880s.”[23]

Lighting fixtures match the time period with glass shades with a gothic/grapevine design. Millwork is also period specific throughout the building, which accents the walls along with the motif of the five point star and the quatrefoil motif.[24][25] There are also new murals for each instruction room, commissioned by three different artists, which are designed to “capture the rugged natural beauty of the southwest Utah landscape.”[21]

Presidents

Notable presidents of the temple include Wilford Woodruff (1877–84); John D. T. McAllister (1884–93); J. Thomas Fyans (1992–95); and Bruce C. Hafen (2010–13).[26]

Access
The St. George temple in the background, with the visitors' center in the foreground a garden can be seen in the front.
The St. George Visitors' Center offers public tours.

The temple is currently open for a public open house until November 11, 2023. It is expected to be dedicated December 10.[21] Temple access will then only be available to church members who hold a current temple recommend. An adjacent visitors' center will continue being open to the public. An LDS Church meetinghouse is across the street on the East, which is also open to the public.

See also
Temples in Utah ()
Wasatch Front Temples
Temples along the Wasatch Front ()
  • = Operating
  • = Under construction
  • = Announced
  • = Temporarily Closed
()

References
  1. {https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/rededication-date-set-for-historic-st-george-utah-temple The rededication announcement] does not specify who will preside at this rededication.
  2. "St. George LDS Temple, Utah's first, to close Nov. 4 for several years to undergo seismic upgrade and major renovation". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  3. "St. George Utah Temple Fact Sheet" (PDF). Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Newsroom. p. 3. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  4. Utt, Emily. "Five Things You Should Know about the St. George Utah Temple", churchofjesuschrist.org, 2020. Retrieved on 17 March 2020.
  5. "'Absolutely incredible'; LDS church reveals details of pending St. George Temple renovations". Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  6. "A path still trod". Deseret News. March 29, 2008. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  7. Curtis, Kirk (October 19, 1964). History of the St. George Temple. Brigham Young University. pp. 35, 36, 37.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. "How is the St. George temple renovation going?". Deseret News. November 7, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  9. "St. George Utah Temple, Dedicatory Prayer". www.churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  10. Beery, Tim. "Alder tells history of St. George Temple". The Spectrum. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  11. Kirk, Curtis (1964). HISTORY OF THE ST GEORGE TEMPLE. Brigham Young University. pp. 43, 64, 142.
  12. "Dedicatory Prayer", churchofjesuschrist.org, 6 April 1877. Retrieved on 17 March 2020.
  13. "St. George Utah Temple: For sacred and holy purposes". Church News. January 1, 1950. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  14. Scribner, Herb. "What will the St. George Utah Temple look like in 2022? Is the St. George Temple closed? Here's everything you need to know", Deseret News, 22 May 2019. Retrieved on 17 March 2020.
  15. "St. George Temple Media Kit" (PDF). Newsroom for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  16. Wixom, Cassidy; May 8, KSL com | Posted-; P.m, 2023 at 7:32. "St. George Utah Temple will be dedicated in December". www.ksl.com. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  17. Noyce, David. "This week in Mormon Land", The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 January 2019. Retrieved on 17 March 2020.
  18. Riess, Jana. "Mormons get back to basics at church's General Conference", Religion News Service, 8 April 2019. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.
  19. Admin, Westland (September 21, 2014). "St. George Temple Renovation | Westland". Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  20. "Work revs up on St. George Temple renovation", The Salt Lake Tribune, 3 February 2020. Retrieved on 17 March 2020.
  21. "The wait is over: The St. George LDS Temple reopens. See the renovated interior and exterior". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  22. pls4e (July 17, 2018). "St. George Utah Temple". SAH ARCHIPEDIA. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  23. "Renovated St. George Utah Temple Ready for Tours". newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org. September 6, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  24. "See inside the newly renovated St. George Utah Temple as media, special-guest tours begin". Church News. September 6, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  25. "See inside the newly renovated St. George Utah Temple as media, special-guest tours begin". Church News. September 6, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  26. "Presidents and Matrons of the St. George Utah Temple | ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org". Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved October 14, 2023.

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