Salt Lake Temple - Paper Model Project Kit

The Salt Lake Temple

he Salt Lake Temple was built by Latter-day Saint pioneers. It took them 40 years! They built it on a solid foundation. That means the stone beneath the temple would help it stand strong. But over time, the foundation started to wear down. Recently, workers fixed the foundation to make it much stronger. Now the Salt Lake Temple will stand for many more years.

When the pioneers came to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, one of the first things they did was choose a place to build a temple. Building a temple was important to the pioneers. They knew the temple is the house of the Lord and a place to receive special blessings.

There weren’t many building materials in the valley. At first, Brigham Young thought they could use adobe bricks to build the temple. Adobe is made from mud, and there was plenty of that around! But was adobe strong enough? Or should they use stone from the mountains even though it would take longer and cost more money?

Since they were building a house for God, the pioneers decided to build the temple with stone. They wanted it to be very strong.

The stone used to build the Salt Lake Temple looks like granite but is actually called quartz monzonite. 

After a groundbreaking ceremony on February 14, 1853, workers started digging a hole for the temple. All men and boys were asked to spend at least one out of every ten days helping to dig. People were excited to help build the house of the Lord.

On April 6, 1853, a celebration was held when the four large cornerstones that would help support the temple were in place. Each cornerstone weighed about 5,400 pounds (as much as a pickup truck). As architect Truman O. Angell designed the temple, he realized a lot of big foundation stones were needed to support the large building.

The pioneers used oxen to pull wagons carrying the heavy stones. It took one day to bring sandstone blocks from Red Butte Canyon (four miles away) to the temple site. It took up to five days to move large granite blocks from Little Cottonwood Canyon (20 miles away).

In 1857, the Latter-day Saints heard that an army was coming to Utah. In case the troops wanted to ruin the temple site, the pioneers buried the foundation stones.

When the pioneers uncovered the stones in 1859, they saw that the foundation wasn’t completely level. It would need to be fixed before they could build on top of it.

They took out parts of the foundation that weren’t strong enough.  Builders filled in gaps and strengthened the foundation. Brigham Young told the builders to be more careful.

By 1873, the Saints built a train line from Little Cottonwood Canyon all the way to the temple site. What once took four days to move stones by wagon now took just over one hour!

Because of their faith in and love for Jesus Christ, many people gave their time and talents to help build His house. In 1877, President Brigham Young died. John Taylor became the next President of the Church. In 1887, both John Taylor and temple architect Truman Angell died. Wilford Woodruff became the prophet, and Joseph Don Carlos Young (Brigham Young’s son) became the temple architect.

President Woodruff wanted to finish the temple so that Latter-day Saints could enjoy special blessings, like being sealed together as families.

Church leaders asked sculptor Cyrus Dallin to make a statue of an angel for the top of the temple. The angel statue was not originally called Moroni (after the Book of Mormon prophet). But when Apostle Marriner Merrill saw the finished statue, he thought it should represent Moroni. Other Church leaders agreed.

On April 6, 1892, many people gathered to celebrate the placement of the large stone, called a capstone, at the very top of the temple.

Before the two halves of the capstone were sealed together, people put books, papers, pictures, and other things inside the stone to be saved for the future. The Salt Lake Temple weighs 187 million pounds. That’s as much as an aircraft carrier, but it’s much harder to lift because it doesn’t float! 

In April 1893, the temple was finished! Because temples are houses of the Lord, each temple is dedicated to Him. The first of 31 dedication sessions for the Salt Lake Temple was on April 6. Five special sessions, on April 21 and 22, were held especially for children.

The Salt Lake Temple was the sixth temple finished in the latter days. Today, more than 380 temples dot the earth. Visitors to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA can enjoy free concerts by the famous Tabernacle Choir and orchestra, dine at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, take a tour of the Temple Visitor’s Center, Conference Center, Church History Library, as well as the newly renovated Beehive House and Lion House. Just across the street visit Family Search, the largest genealogical library in the world! Right next door, discover art & artifacts from the early Saints, and more information about the construction and remodel of the Salt Lake Temple at the Church History Museum!

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