The Salt Lake Temple's Miraculous Inverted Granite Arches

 

This is an 1854 drawing of the Salt Lake Temple’s east side, by Truman O. Angell. Besides the temple, Angell also designed the Endowment House, a school building, homes, stores and other structures in early Utah territory. He also spent time in Britain and France studying those country’s architectural features. (Courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

IT is one of the myths in the Church that empty shafts were inspired to be placed during the construction of the Salt Lake Temple … and that in the future the technology of motorized elevators came along and thus they were easily installed into the Temple.

 The truth is Truman O. Angell, Sr., temple architect visited Europe in 1856, just when elevators were coming into use there. So, he knew about them. But it just turns out that the west center tower in the Salt Lake Temple was a convenient place for two elevators.

(Source: The Design, Construction, and Role of the Salt Lake Temple, by Richard O. Cowan, Brigham Young University’s Religious Studies Center.)

On the Web at:

https://rsc.byu.edu/salt-lake-city-place-which-god-prepared/design-construction-role-salt-lake-temple

However, one miraculous design element of the Salt Lake Temple is NOT a myth – and only in the early 21^st Century -- more than 128 years since the Temple originally opened – has the reality of this amazing architectural feature been utilized.

Here are extracts from a certainly prophetic, April 3, 1993, Saturday morning session of General Conference, by President Body K. Packer, titled “The Temple, The Priesthood”:

“When the Saints trickled into the Salt Lake Valley, all they owned, or could hope to get, was carried in a wagon, or they must make it themselves.

They marked off the temple site before even the rudest log home was built. …”

“In 1853 the cornerstone was set, and ox teams began dragging granite stones from the mountains twenty miles away ....”

“President Young had said when they entered the Valley, “If they let us alone ten years we would ask no odds of them.” Ten years to the day a messenger arrived with word that Johnston’s army was marching west with orders to “settle the Mormon question.”

President Young told the Saints: “[We] have been driven from place to place; … we have been scattered and peeled. …

“… We have transgressed no law, … neither do we intend to; but as for any nation’s coming to destroy this people, God Almighty being my helper, they cannot come here.”

The settlements were evacuated, and the Saints moved south. Every stone was cleared away from Temple Square. The foundation, which after seven years’ work was nearing ground level, was covered over and the block was plowed.

Later, when the foundation was uncovered, they found a few cracks. It was torn out and replaced.

Sixteen large, inverted granite arches were built into the new foundation. There is no record as to why they did that. That manner of construction was unknown in this country then. If someday perchance there be a massive force wanting to lift the temple from beneath, then we shall know why they are there.”

There you go! An actual prophetic design feature in the Salt Lake Temple (and only visible when the entire foundation of the holy Temple was exposed in about 2020).

That’s because all estimated 187 million pounds of the Salt Lake Temple -- the weight of a modern aircraft carrier -- had to be lifted up significantly to install the seismic stabilizers beneath it, to make the sacred Temple earthquake resistant.

President Packer was inspired to mention this fact and sadly didn’t live long enough to see it come to pass, about 27 years AFTER he said it.

How did President Packer even know about the arches (hidden back in 1993)? Let alone mention the temple possibly being lifted one day, which it was...

  (Here's a link to President Packer's talk, if you want to read it in its entirety:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1993/04/the-temple-the-priesthood?lang=eng

Copy of a March 30,1963 photograph in the Deseret News of the east side of the Salt Lake Temple, during renovations, that clearly showed sandstone blocks still present in a sub-foundation.

 --Now what President Packer didn't mention was that when cracks in the Temple's foundation were discovered after the Johnston's Army Event, President Young realized that the red sandstone rock from Red Butte Canyon was not strong enough for a durable temple. That's when granite was used from then on, from Little Cottonwood Canyon. Some of that red sandstone sub-foundation were left in place and a granite foundation was place atop it.

(The sandstone sub-foundation was clearly visible when the church had excavations made along the temple's east side during a 1960s renovation.)

This January of 2023 photograph illustrates how far underground the crews revamping the Salt Lake Temple have gone. The Salt Lake Temple is estimated to weigh 187 million pounds or some 100,000 tons. That’s as much as an aircraft carrier and hence the difficulty in shoring up such a heavy structure, that is also more than a century old. (Author photo.)

 NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

 

 

Is the sub foundation of the Salt Lake Temple composed of granite or sandstone?

DOES the famous and historic Salt Lake Temple actually sit on a base of all granite?

There’s no doubt that a sandstone base, taken from Red Butte Canyon, was the Temple’s original base. But is any of the sandstone still there?

The vast majority of all Internet searches find sources that imply the sandstone base was entirely removed – it is all granite now.

The most authoritative of these sources is from the BYU Religious Studies Center at:

https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/salt-lake-city/4-design-construction-and-role-salt-lake-temple

This report states that the Temple’s foundation was covered as the U.S. Army approached Salt Lake in the summer of 1857.

Then, as the Army threat disappeared, the foundation was uncovered as Temple work was ready to resume.

The BYU Religious Studies history of the Salt Lake Temple then states:

“At this time, President Young examined the newly uncovered foundation and became aware that it was defective. He and his associates noticed large cracks and concluded that its small stones held together with mortar could not carry the massive weight of the temple. On January 1, 1862, he announced that the inadequate foundation would be removed and replaced by one made entirely of granite. The footings would be sixteen feet thick. “I want to see the Temple built in a manner that it will endure through the Millennium,” he later declared. The work of rebuilding the foundation moved slowly, and the walls did not reach ground level until the end of the construction season in 1867, fourteen years after the original cornerstones had been laid.”

However, this report can be supplemented by several Deseret News stories, including a photograph from the early 1960s.

The Deseret News of March 30, 1963 published a photograph of when extensive excavations were made around the base of the Salt Lake Temple. This photograph lists the granite foundation as 14 feet deep (two feet less than the BYU article stated).

It also clearly shows a sandstone sub-foundation still there, underneath the granite foundation.

So, technically both statements of a granite or sandstone base are true.

An earlier Deseret News story on Sept. 8, 1962, stated:

“The story of the foundation and the back-breaking labors of the pioneers who toiled with oxen to haul giant pieces of granite from Cottonwood Canyon quarries to replace an original foundation of sandstone has been told.”

Thus, if there ever was a full foundation of sandstone up to the ground level, then the upper 14 feet of that base had to have been removed and replaced with granite. However, the BYU story stated that the temple structure didn’t rise to ground level until 1867, or 10 years after the threat from the U.S. Army. So, this casts some doubt on a full underground base of sandstone ever existing.

Notwithstanding, it is a fact that some 14 feet to 16 feet of lower sandstone sub-base still remain below ground.

The 1963 Deseret News story stated that the sandstone sub-foundation was 30 feet down. Amazingly, only hand tools, horse and oxen power created that foundation.

This sandstone sub-foundation covers an area of 4,850 square feet.

The photograph also reveals how layered in blocks and even partially eroded the sandstone sub-foundation appears to have been in 1963.

During the 1963 renovation, cement wells and footings were added to replace the previous rocky subsoil. At the same time of the 1963 underground improvements, underground passages were also added.

-“Facts about the Temple” was an Oct. 22, 1891 story on the S.L. Temple in the Salt Lake Herald newspaper. This article accurately mentions the deepest foundations as being sandstone.

“The Salt Lake Temple foundation is not laid of granite from Cottonwood canon (sic), as has been stated, but is of the same kind of sandstone as the temple block wall foundation – we call it firestone – and has never been disturbed or taken up and relayed as has been stated …” the Herald story stated.

The Herald also explained that oxen hauled the sandstone from a spur in the mountain a little south of the mouth of Red Butte Canon (sic), in blocks about three feet thick.

Back to the Deseret News’ 1963 photograph, it does appear to show the three-foot thick sandstone blocks in the sub-foundation.

-One other interesting excerpt from the BYU Religious Studies article on the history of the S.L. Temple is this:

“Because the builders recalled President Young’s desire for this temple to stand through time, the structure was very solid. Even at their tops, the walls were six feet thick, and the granite blocks were individually and skillfully shaped to fit snugly together. Nearly a century later, Elder Mark E. Petersen attested to the soundness of the temple’s construction. He was in the temple when a rather severe earthquake hit, damaging several buildings around the Salt Lake Valley. “As I sat there in that temple I could feel the sway of the quake and that the whole building groaned.” Afterward, he recalled, the engineers “could not find one semblance of damage” anywhere in the temple.”

So, the finished Salt Lake Temple may be more earthquake resistant than some may believe – notwithstanding that sandstone sub-foundation.

-Still one more interesting fact from the BYU Religious Studies article is this:

“Some have suggested that in the Salt Lake Temple, shafts were provided for elevators and spaces left throughout the building for electric conduits and heating ducts even before these technologies were known. Angell Sr., (the temple’s architect) however, certainly would have learned about elevators, which were just coming into use at the time of his 1856 visit to Europe. By the early 1860s, electricity was already being used in Utah for the Deseret Telegraph system. Hence, most of the temple’s interior was designed and built long after these technologies emerged. Although the west center tower proved to be a convenient location for the two main elevators, there is no evidence to suggest that their shafts were planned when there was no knowledge of this technology.”


-Originally published in the Deseret News.

NOTE 1: The term "granite" is a layman's term in this article. Geologists probably have their own different scientific terms.

NOTE 2: Temples can be vulnerable to earthquakes, God permitting. Example: The Logan Temple's main structural beam was found to be cracked in two when extensive remodeling work began in 1976. It was surmised that a past earthquake (possibly from the March 27, 1975 Pocatello Valley Idaho quake that was near the Utah-Idaho border and equaled 6.3 in strength), damaged it.
Thus, if the temple had simply been renovated, the roof could have eventually collapsed. Fortunately, a total rebuilding inside the walls and roof was done.

NOTE 3: It was announced in April of 2019 that the Salt Lake Temple will close at the end of 2019 for approximately 4 years for extensive remodeling. This will be the first remodeling of that temple since 1963, when the photos on this blog were taken. Extensive seismic upgrades will be made -- and the sandstone sub-foundation will surely be exposed again.

NOTE 4: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Salt Lake Temple: Most Expensive Temple Ever?

THE next time you enjoy the gothic and symbolic features  of the one and only Salt Lake LDS Temple, consider it’s dollar price to build -- $3,469,118.

That was the price given by Elder George Reynolds, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, back in 1895, to a Philadelphia newspaper, as quoted in the Deseret Weekly News of March 23, 1895.

Factor in the inflation and even in 1916 dollars (the furthest back an on-line government inflation calculator goes), that price equals at least $114 million in 2025 dollars.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hasn’t revealed the actual costs of any temples for many decades now.)

However, in contrast the San Diego Temple, which opened in 1993, was reported by the Los Angeles Times to have cost an estimated $24 million. (That’s $40.6 million in 2017 dollars.)

                                                             San Diego Temple.

And, the original Ogden Temple, that opened in 1972, cost $4.29 million (or some $25 million in today’s dollars.)

Note that the Salt Lake Temple required some 40 years to build – far more than any other temple. Also, some volunteer, unpaid labor was used back then, or the price over four decades likely would have been much more, likely $100 millon plus.

Furthermore, Elder Reynolds in that 1895 article stated that exact costs of the temple were impossible. Still, he said about the Salt Lake Temple’s construction:

“In the early stages the progress was slow and very expensive, for it took four yoke of oxen four days to bring a single stone from the quarry twenty miles distant.”

He said some estimated it cost $100 for every stone cut, moved by oxen to the temple site and then laid in place. He also stressed that metal and other materials were very expensive to obtain, especially until the railroad came along.

  -In conclusion, if you factor in the extra millions and millions of dollars used in the Salt Lake Temple's long-going renovation, it may well have passed the billion dollar mark in total funds used.

                                                        Pencil drawing by Steve Arave

The 3 Most Unique Temples of All ...

WHAT are the three most uniqueTemples to be found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
They are the Salt Lake Temple, the Jordan River Temple and the Ogden Temple

Why?

1. The Salt Lake Temple is the flagship temple in the church. 
It required the longest time to be built (40 years) and includes far more symbolism on its exterior than any other temple.

                  The Richard Flygare wedding in the Jordan River Temple.

2. The Jordan River Temple is the ONLY church temple ever built that didn't use any church funds for its construction.
Besides land being donated for its construction to the church (representing the only exception since the 1960s where the church accepted donated land with conditions attached -- that a temple would be build there) -- area members donated $15 million (a price estimated before any plans were drawn up).
The temple actually cost less than that to build (probably $9-10 million)  and so the unused money funded the temple's complete operating costs for several years.
Also, the Jordan River Temple has six endowment ordinance rooms that can seat 125 church members -- the highest capacity endowment temple in the church.

                     A painting of the original Ogden Temple by Keith Wilcox.


3. The Ogden Temple was the first temple in the church to feature six ordinance rooms.
In its first month of operation in 1971, the temple did more endowment work than all other Utah temples combined.
It was also the first temple in the U.S. to feature a film to present the endowment, instead of having to move, room-to-room.
In addition, this is the only temple to be torn down and rebuilt, with just the cornerstone left of the original structure.

                           The "new" Ogden Temple from the west side.

                     The S.E. corner of the rebuilt Ogden Temple.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

The Extensive Symbolism of the Outside of the Salt Lake Temple

THE 40 years of labor it took to construct the Salt Lake Temple — much of it without the help of machines — have come to symbolize the extreme dedication, sacrifice, self-reliance and faith that early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah possessed. However, the outside (like the inside) of the iconic structure contains a wealth of symbols and representations.

"Notable among all LDS temples, the Salt Lake Temple includes significant symbolism in its architecture," the Encyclopedia of Mormonism states.

The Salt Lake Temple "stands as an isolated mass of the everlasting hills. ? As nearly as any work of man may so do. It suggests duration," Elder James E. Talmage wrote in "The House of the Lord."

While it would be improper to discuss the inside of the sacred temple's symbolism, the outside of the sacred edifice has been publicly written about over the years — because anyone can view that aspect.

Here's a look at highlights of the temple's extensive outside symbolism:

Granite — While LDS temple buildings generally represent mountains, which anciently were climbed for solitude and private communion with deity, the Salt Lake Temple has more symbolism than any other. The gray granite walls symbolize the enduring and eternal nature of the ordinances performed therein and of the everlasting hills (from "The Salt Lake Temple," by Dean R. Zimmerman, New Era magazine, June 1978).

The granite for the temple came from the mountain walls in Little Cottonwood Canyon, southeast of Salt Lake City. Deep excavations around the Salt Lake Temple in 1963 revealed a 14-foot-deep granite foundation, atop a 16-foot-deep sandstone foundation (according to the Deseret News, March 30, 1963).

Towers — The six towers themselves signify the restoration of priesthood authority. (Religious spires in general are symbolic because they prompt onlookers to gaze heavenward.) The three eastern towers on the temple are six feet higher than the western counterparts. As such, the eastern towers represent the three members of the church's First Presidency and the Melchizedek Priesthood, while the western towers portray the Presiding Bishopric of the church and the Aaronic Priesthood (according to the New Era article).

Earth stones — These are found just above the basement of the temple and at the floor of each buttress. The 36 stones are believed to symbolize the spreading of the gospel throughout the world, because they represent different portions of the globe. They also represent the telestial kingdom, the lowest of the three degrees of heavenly glory in LDS beliefs.

Moon stones — These are found just above the temple's promenade and represent the moon in all its different phases. Drawings by the temple's architect, Truman O. Angell, are based on all phases of the moon during the year 1878. There were 13 new moons, 13 first quarters, 12 full moons and 12 last quarters during that year. Midway along the north wall of the temple is the first quarter of the moon, based on January 1878. Go clockwise and the moon's phases for that year continue in sequence. The moon also represents the middle degree of glory, the terrestrial kingdom in LDS scripture.

Some also believe the moon's phases may represent man's mortal journey, from birth to death and from darkness to light.

Sun stones — Going upward on the temple are the sun stones, with 52 points per face, to represent the sun's rays. These stones were patterned after the Nauvoo Temple's sun stones. These stones also represent the highest degree of glory, the celestial kingdom is LDS theology.

Star stones — Just above the cornice of the temple are five-point star stones. The eastern towers have 40 star stones. These number 12 on the central towers. They are also found on the majority of keystones. The central towers on both the east and west sides contain stones showing clasped hands. These symbolize the hand of fellowship and how Latter-day Saints should characterize brotherly love.

Cloud stones — There are only two cloud stones on the temple. They are located on the east center tower and represent the gospel piercing through superstition and the error of the world.

Inscriptions — Just above the windows on the eastern center tower is the inscription "Holiness to the Lord" (Exodus 28:36). This is inscribed somewhere on all temples.

Near the windows of the east and west towers are keystones, inscribed with "I Am Alpha and Omega" (Revelation 22:13). This phrase represents time and eternity and is a proclamation of he who is without beginning or end.

Constellations — Above the windows on the west central tower are representations of Ursa Major and the Big Dipper. Angell once wrote that Ursa Major and its pointer toward the North Star symbolize that the lost may find themselves by the priesthood.

Eye — Above the upper windows in each of the center towers is a carved emblem, the "all-seeing eye."

Turrets — On the corner tower are single spire stones, representing flaming torches.

The Angel Moroni statue — He represents the restoration of the gospel in the latter days.

Some old photographs show a lamp was originally mounted on the crown atop Moroni's head. That light was eventually removed.

Missing features — Not all the symbolism originally planned for the Salt Lake Temple became a reality, either. For example, an early sketch of the temple by Angell found hanging today in Brigham Young's guest room at Cove Fort shows that two Angel Moroni statues, one each on the east and west ends, were initially envisioned. Only an eastern statue was ever used for reasons unclear.

Some of Angell's drawings from 1854 show "Saturn stones," complete with rings, located directly above the sun stones. These were not ever placed on the temple walls, according to Zimmerman's article in the New Era.


For perhaps its first few decades, the Salt Lake Temple used to have statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, one each in niches at the top of the two eastern stairways. These bronze statues were later removed and placed elsewhere on the temple block, according to Elder Talmage in "The House of the Lord." The empty spaces for these two statues remain and are popular photography spots for wedding parties today.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Deseret News, Nov. 27, 2008.)

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

What NOT To Do In The Temple ...

OK, I thought I had seen it all ...
I'm in the Salt Lake Temple on May 1, 2013, in a sealing room, about a minute before a nephew's marriage ceremony is to begin.
I'm enjoying the serene, quiet spirit and recognizing that the feeling here is like no other place in the world -- to be in a temple of the Lord.
Then, I  happen to look over to my left, two people down my row.
What do  I see?
A man texting and then surfing the Web!
We were on holy ground. There are just some things that can wait 30 minutes or less to take care of.
Do people not understand there are truly some sacred places?
If a 40-something year-old man is doing this, what about the younger generation? Hopefully they know better, cause he didn't.

--In a related matter, I am kind of amused by the sign at the Salt Lake Temple entrance. It basically says all cameras need to be checked-in at the desk, but cell phones just need turned off.
What?
This is the 21st Century.
That's a 20th Century type policy, outdated and missing the point that MOST photos today are taken by cell phones, not cameras.

--We also don't teach members enough about the Sacrament passing portion of Sacrament meetings. I regularly see members come and go during sacrament passing for no apparent urgent reason. Others, just walk in an sit down shortly after the blessing on the bread, likely having never even heard the prayer that day.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.