Salt Lake 1893

Historic Temple Video – Salt Lake Temple (1893~1904)

Having finally got caught up with the Church again for the third or fourth time this year, I am diving back into my historic Temple models once again. Today’s installment int he Series is the ‘as dedicated’ version of the Salt Lake Temple.

I spent much time on this temple model working on that fantastic annex that the temple originally had, as well as the boiler house. A close look at the grounds will show the guardhouse, formerly the architects office, as well as Orson Pratt’s observatory. The greenhouse that was originally included in as an attached part of the Garden Room is included, as is the last remaining bit of the endowment house, which functioned temporarily as a greenhouse for the temple grounds themselves.

The Elevator Myth

There is a story widely spread about the elevators at the Salt Lake Temple. I have also heard it told about Cardston Temple, but just once, and even then it was absurd.

The story is short, and says that Brigham Young demanded that large open shafts be left inside the temple, and required they not be filled. Later when it came time to install elevators int he temple, these shafts proved to be exactly the right size, even though elevators had been unheard of prior to that point.

I have not been able to find a source for this myth, often these stories have at least some basis in truth, but this one, I cannot find anything at all that could conceivably be linked to the origin of this one.

The Truth Of It

Even at the time the saints were crossing the plains, elevators were already in use elsewhere in the world, especially in Europe. When Truman O. Angell did his study mission in Europe, looking over famous bits of architecture, several of the buildings he visited had elevators int hem, including the Palace of Versailles in France.

Meanwhile, back in the United states, the Otis Elevator Company was founded, patented and sold their first commercially available elevator in 1853, the year the Saints broke ground for the temple. Partway through the construction of the temple, Otis Elevator Co would provide the church with a bid for elevators for the then still under construction temple. This bid can be seen in the Church History Library’s online archive, and is dated June of 1883, 6 years BEFORE the temple was completed. The Angel on the top of the east tower was still planned to be a weather vane until at least 1887, so the plans for Elevators pre-date the plans for the Angel Moroni statue. An elevator lift and elevator equipment can be seen on one of the later floorplans of the temple.

The fact of the matter is the Salt Lake temple was dedicated with the Elevators already functioning and in place. There never were any mysterious shafts, and the same goes true for any other temple you hear this rumor about.

McAllen Texas

McAllen Texas Temple, first draft video

I don’t know why, but this one took me a long time to finish. I am very happy with the results, however, so totally worth it.

I used more bird sounds than normal on this video, but there were so many good ones, and all of them recorded just a couple miles from the site. There is a clip of a bunch of green parakeets being very chatty, and those were recorded about a block from the temple site.

Moses Lake Washington

A new video for Moses Lake Washington Temple

Wow, I was so busy with another project that I completely forgot yesterday that this video was ready!

I have learned some new details about the announced Moses Lake Washington Temple. This video shows the initial design for the Landscaping and layout. Enjoy!

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Feather River California

A new video for Feather River California Temple

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.

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St George Utah Temple 1888

Historic Video Series – St. George Utah Temple (1883-1900)

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!

The Lightning Myth

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.

The Enlightened Truth

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 New Tower

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.

Origin Of The Myth

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.

Sources

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

Manti Utah 1888

Historic Temple Video Series- Manti Utah Temple (1888)

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.

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Orem Utah TEmple

Orem Utah Temple, first draft video

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!

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