Facts, Models, and Videos of Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
I learned a thing or two about the Feather River Temple, so I made some changes. The temple sits facing north on the site, as does the Statue atop the spire, according to the render. This model reflects that, as well as the redwood trees on the north east corner of the lot that are being preserved.
Continue reading “A new video for Feather River California Temple”
Update:
Due to recent research, I have moved the date of this video from 1888 to 1833, being the time that the tower and annex were both added to the temple.
Today’s video depicts the St. George Temple as it would have looked when the annex was first added. According to my recent research, the new annex was added in conjunction with the construction of the temple’s taller, more stately tower. Few pictures exist of the temple in this state, but those that do clearly show the water tower of the temple sticking up right through the roof of the annex!
Enjoy the video!
Much has been said about how the spire came to be, and the stories are, more often than not, wrong. Tradition holds that Brigham Young hated the short spire, and demanded the spire be replaced with a taller one. The saints, however, were tired of the labor of building the temple, and refused, with President Young eventually relenting. The temple was dedicated 6–8 April 1877, with Brigham in attendance. President Young would then pass away August 29, 1877 Just over four months later.
Then, in a violent storm in October of 1878, just 14 months after Brigham’s passing, the tower is struck by lightning, and burned down to the rock underneath it. The local saints, humbled by the event and mindful of Brigham Young’s desires, rebuild the spire, taller this time.
Brigham Young was not well as the temple neared completion. For the last few years of his life, He wintered every year in St. George, finding the environment better for his health. During his visits, he spent nearly every day at the temple. With Truman O. Angell, the temple’s architect, in Salt Lake working on the Temple there, Brigham was the first and last word on all things relating to the temple’s construction during his visits, the Temples only on hand architect.
During one of his visits to St. George, President Young took a private tour of the temple with his son and then apostle, Brigham Young Jr. on May 10, 1876. Elder Young recorded the visit in his journal as follows:
“The tower is wooden and very unsatisfactory piece of work,” Young, Jr. wrote in his journal. “Father remarked he would keep the tower locked, that he was ashamed of the framing and the design. It was is some 12–18 feet too low to look well. Prest [Brigham Young, Sr.] says they will have that remided [remedied] some these days,” (Brigham Young Jr., Journal, May 10, 1876, 83).
There is no recorded evidence, anywhere, that anyone other than Brigham Jr. knew of his father’s dislike of the spire. The journal itself would not be discovered by researchers until the 1970s, which, coincidentally, seems to be about the same time the first recorded versions of this myth came into being.
It is also interesting to note that President Young only wanted the spire 12-18 feet taller than the dedicated version (left.) The end result would have looked more like The middle image, and not the final finished spire (right.)
The lower portion of the modern temple is placed at about the same height Brigham wished he had made the entirety of the spire to begin with.
There is evidence that temporary repairs were done to the tower (which was severely damaged, but not burnt completely down) in 1878. Letters between local authorities go into great detail as to the level of damage the tower and other portions of the roof received. They are decidedly absent of mentions of Brigham Young, or any concerns about the size of the now damaged spire.
The decision to make a taller tower would be made about 21 months after repairs on the original spire were completed. Announcements of the pending renovation and change were made both in the local papers and papers in Salt Lake City. None of these articles mention either Brigham Young or the lightning strike of two years prior. However, the tower was not made taller until 1883, 5 years after the strike. News reports at the time of the spire replacement announcement and the construction of the taller tower made no mention at all of Brigham Young.
Well, as these things sometimes happen, the Journal entry of Brigham Young Jr. was discovered in the 1970s, and someone, somewhere, likely related the story of Brigham wishing the spire was taller along with a reference to the lightning strike. In 1977, the first printed version of this story appeared in The Color County Spectrum and soon a similar story appeared in St. George Magazine, only this time with more details than had been shared in print before. In future print versions, the story would continue to receive even more new details and variations. In what was probably a matter of months, an off handed story along the lines of “wouldn’t it be funny if” became a full on struggle between the prophet and his people over who was going to have the final say in the design of the temple.
The information from this article came from the following:
The St. George Temple Tower: Evolution of a Design
Darrell E. Jones
Journal of Mormon History
Vol. 34, No. 2 (Spring 2008), pp. 113-129
All That Was Promised
The St. George Temple and the Unfolding of the Restoration
Blain M. Yorgason, Richard A. Schmutz and Douglas D. Adler
2013, Deseret Book
Footnote #5, pages 320, 321
These photos were taken specifically for a post I made about the storied doorknobs and hinges on the temple. For more information on that, see the post here.
| Camera | Pentax K10D |
| Shots | 15 |
| Format | 10 Megapixel |
| Medium | Digital |
| Light | Day |
| Season | Summer |
Being caught up with the Temple render releases for now, I am back to my Historic Video series. Today takes us forward to the year 1888, and for the first time, the Manti Utah Temple. the video here shows the temple as it would have looked when completed, as well as other buildings representing the support structures built to help the workers in the construction effort. Historic photos show that these buildings remained on site for many years after the dedication.
Continue reading “Historic Temple Video Series- Manti Utah Temple (1888)”
I created this just one week after the Church released the official render. That render was rather low resolution, so I had to make guesses about the small details. I am not confident about ANY of those at all. So there will be another video later. In the meantime, enjoy this one!
Continue reading “Orem Utah Temple, first draft video”
I have a new video for you today. Shortly after the Logan Temple was dedicated it was decided to expand the annex to add more area for the administrative side of things. Additionally, a new entrance was added on the east side of the annex. This addition was to help shelter the original entrance from the bitter winds in the area, especially in the winter. This two door setup is similar to the double sets of doors seen on many temples and other buildings today.
Continue reading “Historic Temple Video series – Logan Utah Temple (1885-1915)”
The longest, and possibly most complex video I have ever released. This temple model represents the Logan Temple as it probably looked in 1884 when it was dedicated.
This model features the interior rooms of the original temple. These rooms have since been removed during a renovation in the 1970s. I had a good time making very inaccurate reproductions of the original murals, based on partial black and white photos from before the demolition.
Continue reading “Historic Video Series – Logan Utah Temple (1884)”
UPDATE!
Due to recent discoveries I have made, I have found that this particular model is inaccurate. Specifically, this model represents a state of the temple that did not and never did exist. Instead, the next video, depicting the first annex, is the next stage in the evolution of the temple. :https://photogent.com/historic-temple-video-series-st-george-utah-temple-1888-1900/
This is the second historic variation of the St. George Utah Temple, and it features the first appearance of the new, taller, spire for the temple.
Much has been said about how the spire came to be, and the stories are, more often than not, wrong. Tradition holds that Brigham Young hated the short spire, and demanded the spire be replaced with a taller one. The saints, however, were tired of the labor of building the temple, and refused, with President Young eventually relenting. The temple was dedicated 6–8 April 1877, with Brigham in attendance. President Young would then pass away August 29, 1877 Just over four months later.
Then, in a violent storm in October of 1878, just 14 months after Brigham’s passing, the tower is struck by lightning, and burned down to the rock underneath it. The local saints, humbled by the event and mindful of Brigham Young’s desires, rebuild the spire, taller this time.
Brigham Young was not well as the temple neared completion. For the last few years of his life, He wintered every year in St. George, finding the environment better for his health. During his visits, he spent nearly every day at the temple. With Truman O. Angell, the temple’s architect, in Salt Lake working on the Temple there, Brigham was the first and last word on all things relating to the temple’s construction during his visits, the Temples only on hand architect.
During one of his visits to St. George, President Young took a private tour of the temple with his son and then apostle, Brigham Young Jr. on May 10, 1876. Elder Young recorded the visit in his journal as follows:
“The tower is wooden and very unsatisfactory piece of work,” Young, Jr. wrote in his journal. “Father remarked he would keep the tower locked, that he was ashamed of the framing and the design. It was is some 12–18 feet too low to look well. Prest [Brigham Young, Sr.] says they will have that remided [remedied] some these days,” (Brigham Young Jr., Journal, May 10, 1876, 83).
There is no recorded evidence, anywhere, that anyone other than Brigham Jr. knew of his father’s dislike of the spire. The journal itself would not be discovered by researchers until the 1970s, which, coincidentally, seems to be about the same time the first recorded versions of this myth came into being.
It is also interesting to note that President Young only wanted the spire 12-18 feet taller than the dedicated version (left.) The end result would have looked more like The middle image, and not the final finished spire (right.)
The lower portion of the modern temple is placed at about the same height Brigham wished he had made the entirety of the spire to begin with.
There is evidence that temporary repairs were done to the tower (which was severely damaged, but not burnt completely down) in 1878. Letters between local authorities go into great detail as to the level of damage the tower and other portions of the roof received. They are decidedly absent of mentions of Brigham Young, or any concerns about the size of the now damaged spire.
The decision to make a taller tower would be made about 21 months after repairs on the original spire were completed. Announcements of the pending renovation and change were made both in the local papers and papers in Salt Lake City. None of these articles mention either Brigham Young or the lightning strike of two years prior. However, the tower was not made taller until 1883, 5 years after the strike. News reports at the time of the spire replacement announcement and the construction of the taller tower made no mention at all of Brigham Young.
Well, as these things sometimes happen, the Journal entry of Brigham Young Jr. was discovered in the 1970s, and someone, somewhere, likely related the story of Brigham wishing the spire was taller along with a reference to the lightning strike. In 1977, the first printed version of this story appeared in The Color County Spectrum and soon a similar story appeared in St. George Magazine, only this time with more details than had been shared in print before. In future print versions, the story would continue to receive even more new details and variations. In what was probably a matter of months, an off handed story along the lines of “wouldn’t it be funny if” became a full on struggle between the prophet and his people over who was going to have the final say in the design of the temple.
The information from this article came from the following:
The St. George Temple Tower: Evolution of a Design
Darrell E. Jones
Journal of Mormon History
Vol. 34, No. 2 (Spring 2008), pp. 113-129
All That Was Promised
The St. George Temple and the Unfolding of the Restoration
Blain M. Yorgason, Richard A. Schmutz and Douglas D. Adler
2013, Deseret Book
Footnote #5, pages 320, 321
I am very happy about today’s video. For the last couple of years I have been working on and off on a new set of temple models. These models represent changes made to temples over time. For example, at the St. George Utah Temple, I am currently working on a total of 9 models that show how the annex, tower, and exterior color of the temple have changed over time.
In the past, as Temples have been renovated and given new exteriors, I have added a special thumbnail to the old version of the temple. Today’s video gets the same thumbnail, but is the first video created officially for this new series.
I hope you enjoy it, this model was a pleasure to work on!
If you are interested in seeing the other videos in the Historic Temples video series, click here.
I have many more of these planned, with multiple videos for many of the early temples. While I will continue to make videos of new temples, a large portion of my focus will be moving into these new models.
Below I have included other videos created for the St. George Temple’s Historic timeline.
I have for you today, a first draft video of the Washington County Temple. Enjoy!