Logan, Utah

After traveling through the Logan Canyon for a decent way, you’ll find yourself in Logan, Utah, home of Utah State University and the second-longest-serving temple in the world. The temple itself is situated high on a hill. I’m struck by its distinct outer appearance: unlike any other LDS temple, it is built of a dark, beautiful limestone, and its two white towers pop out in a striking contrast to the earth-toned stone.

Photo note: I believe I found most of these photos on http://thetrumpetstone.blogspot.com/, so check them out as well. They really are a fascinating blog.

Photo by David C. Moore

Of course, it didn’t always look like that. It was originally painted white, much like the St. George Utah Temple, and looked much more like this:

I’m glad the paint was removed, because that dark stone—I wish we had more temples in dark stone, to be honest.

It’s a temple with some interesting history behind it. According to the writings of former Logan Temple President Marriner W. Merrill, one day, while he was working in the temple, he looked out the window and saw men on horseback riding up to the temple. President Miller went out to meet them and asked them who they were and what they wanted. The leader of the group said to him, “I am Satan and these are my people.” The man calling himself Satan then commanded President Merrill to cease the work being done in the temple, and when President Miller refused, Satan threatened to “scatter this congregation of people throughout these valleys, and we will keep people from coming to the temple. We will whisper in their ears and discourage them from attending the temple. This will stop your temple work.” President Merrill then commanded them to depart by the authority of the priesthood. The men vanished.

President Merrill later became Elder Merrill of the Quorum of the Twelve. I don’t know much more about the story than that. A more full version is contained in the book Saints of Sage and Saddle, a collection of like stories compiled by one Austin E. Fife. I don’t know the paper source of the story, whether it was a journal of Merrill’s, attributed to him by another writer, given in a talk, or what. I should look that up.

When it comes to the architecture, the Logan Temple has a bit of a sad story. It was one of the original pioneer temples. I love those temples. I mean, of course, a temple is a temple, and the same Spirit resides in all of them. However, there is something special to me about the old Romanesque/Victorian Gothic/Renaissance architecture that made those early temples so unique. And I’m touched by the realization that they were made by hand, carved with the most basic of tools and limited resources. I mean, the way I understand it, the construction work was the tithing of some of the carpenters and masons—they would just work for free on the Temple one day out of ten (that’s the story I heard about the Salt Lake Temple—correct me if I’m wrong).

The reason I reminisce so is because the temple interior was gutted in the 1970s during a remodeling. Now, this is another temple I have never been to. I have come to understand that the newer interior is more modern and stark than the original. I can’t tell from the photos I have, so if you have more information about this, please let me know!

Solemn Assembly Room

Celestial Room

I suspect that this is the new Celestial Room—it resembles the Provo Temple’s, built around the same time-ish (1970s).

Celestial Room

I believe that this is the original Celestial Room—I think it was labelled such when I found it—as it resembles the Manti Temple’s more than anything else.

Molding detail

Presumably prior to the remodel. It was during the era of the Logan Temple remodel that the Church was producing some of its most modern-looking temples and chapels. It was also during this era that the Church was selling or demolishing a number of its older tabernacles, much to the dismay of many of the members who had long cherished the buildings. Perhaps the most poignant of these demolitions was the Coalsville Tabernacle in Utah. Architecturally, it looked like a combination of the Assembly Hall on Temple Square and the Provo Tabernacle—a gorgeous gothic structure with that top-heavy, thick-walled LDS flair that was typical of the era (read more at https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V05N04_44.pdf). In defense of the Church, it was also a matter of where tithing funds would go—operating a vehicle of salvation and temporal relief is different from operating a museum, and some of these buildings are quite expensive to keep up, especially as they require seismic and electric upgrades to be in alignment with new safety laws. Since then, the Church has moved into a more classical and timeless architectural direction, which move I heartily laud, and has made more of a move to preserve the old tabernacles, several of which have been or are being converted into temples (Copenhagen, Denmark; Vernal, Utah; and Provo City Center, Utah). But it still hurts to imagine ripping out the old pioneer handiwork. President Kimball was reportedly pained to do so as well.

Doorknob detail

This appears to be in a museum. This one was definitely from The Trumpet Stone blog. Again, check them out (http://thetrumpetstone.blogspot.com/). I suspect that most of these photos are. Anyway, these carved doorknobs are also one of those aspects of the old pioneer temples I find so endearing. Hugh Nibley wrote a paper on the carvings on the doorknobs of the Manti Temple, discussing the symbols engraved thereon. I’ll hop on that when I get to Manti (next post).

Ordinance Room (Garden?)

Ordinance Room (Garden?)

Ordinance Room (Telestial?)

Ordinance Room (Terrestrial?)

Baptismal Font

This is most certainly the new font.

“Gold Room”

This special sealing room was called the Gold Room. Prior to the construction of the Manti and Salt Lake Temples, this room served as the Holy of Holies. There is only one Holy of Holies in all the temples and it is presently in the Salt Lake Temple, through the doors that sit between the two old sealing rooms. My understanding is that any sealing room in any temple may serve as the Holy of Holies if needed. I’ll talk more about that when I get to the Salt Lake Temple.

Sealing Room (I am guessing this one is modern)

Sealing Room

This sealing room appears to be older, with the same stained glass as the Gold Room. The altar is very similar to those seen in the Salt Lake Temple.

Sealing Room

This appears to be a sealing room in one of the two towers. I have always wanted to visit one of these rooms, but have never had the opportunity.

“Gold Room”

Spiral stair

These spiral stairs feature in a number of the old pioneer temples. The rebuilt Nauvoo Temple also features a similar spiral stair.

Spiral stair

Spiral stair

This is almost definitely from the original temple, because the molding of the arch and doorway are very reminiscent of the Salt Lake Temple. Unless the remodeled temple remained true to that architectural style. If the new annex is any hint, however, that isn’t the case:

Photo by Angela Oakeson

St. George, Utah

Before I start, let me point out that I don’t own any of these images. The exterior photo is from the Church website at lds.org. The interior photos look like they were published in a magazine, so my best guess at the source would be the Ensign following the November 1975 rededication of the St. George Utah Temple. These photos have cropped up on various blogs and other sites over the years, and I honestly can’t remember where I found these items in particular. A reverse Google image search revealed about a dozen candidates for my original download, so I couldn’t tell you where I found it. But we can safely assume that all of these images are copyrighted and owned by Intellectual Reserve, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Generally, I have higher-quality photos than these. But I rely on Church publications for images of the temples, and as most of these older temples haven’t had an open house recently, I am fairly limited in my photo options.

The St. George Temple

What strikes me immediately is how much this temple resembles the Nauvoo Temple of old. Of course, to the Saints of St. George who built this temple, Nauvoo was abandoned not even thirty years ago. The similarity to the Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples went deeper than just the exterior—the original building was of the same design on the inside as well, with a great solemn assembly hall. When Endowments were performed, partitions were lowered over the hall as had been done in Kirtland and Nauvoo. When it was remodeled in the late 1930s, the hall was transformed into the current five-room layout, which might explain some of the aesthetic similarities of these rooms to Salt Lake’s interior.

Additionally, that tower is relatively new. Now, an old Mormon Myth about that tower: the original tower was much more squat and, to be honest, was not very appealing.

(Actually, I’m not sure about the photo credit here—but it’s definitely public domain by now)

According to the story, Brigham Young was never too keen on that tower, and wished that it had been different. Shortly after his death (and this part is actually verifiable), lightning struck the tower, starting a fire that damaged it so badly that it became necessary to reconstruct it. The new tower, as I think most of us will agree, is much prettier, so I guess Brother Brigham got his wish.

On another, more important note, it was in the St. George temple that, according to Wilford Woodruff, the following occurred:

“The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, ‘You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we … remained true to it and were faithful to God.’ These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights” (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff).

The Solemn Assembly Room

Though the picture is tiny, you can see that there are a series of tiered pulpits that mirror the pulpits of the Kirtland Temple. This room is not present in most Latter-day Saint temples. In the words of Elder David B. Haight: “A solemn assembly, as the name implies, denotes a sacred, sober, and reverent occasion wen the saints assemble under the direction of the First Presidency.” He goes on to explain that they are generally only held for the dedication of temples, giving instruction to priesthood leaders, and when it becomes necessary to sustain a new President of the Church (General Conference, October 1994). Although the sustaining of the First Presidency usually takes place in the Conference Center, I suppose it could also theoretically take place inside these solemn assembly halls (there are several—here, in Logan, Manti, Salt Lake, Los Angeles, and a whole slew of other temples that I can’t remember at the moment).

 The Celestial Room

The three arches in the center of the photo remind me of Salt Lake, where there are three arched mirrors, one of which is actually a sliding door that leads to a sealing room. I just love those interesting little touches. It appears, here, that only the center arch is a mirror and the other two lead into another room. I have never been to this temple, and I will update this as soon as I learn more about it.

The Garden  Room

I’m guessing here. But it does appear to be a garden room. I’m again impressed by how much this resembles the Salt Lake Temple, especially with the half-circle above the door set with what appears to be a simple metal latticework.

The Telestial Room

In more modern temples, the Creation Room, Garden Room, Telestial Room, and sometimes the Terrestrial Room are combined into one room.

Hallway … somewhere in the temple.

The beveled archways again remind me a great deal of the Salt Lake Temple. I’m not sure where this is inside the temple, but in my experiences, these hallways or staircases are usually encountered near the front of the temple. I will update when I learn more of this.

I Am Obsessed

I’m guessing that if you are reading a blog titled “Obsessive Temple Architecture Syndrome,” you are a pretty interesting character or else just curious. Sure, it’s a bizarre title. But it’s literal. Like, it’s exactly what it looks like. I am obsessive about architecture, more especially religious architecture. And because I am a Mormon, well, LDS temples are pretty much my thing (sorry if you were expecting a treatise on Buddhist temples).

What is really interesting to me, as much as the architecture itself, is the story behind it. Because all architecture has a story. And when you learn the story of a building—when you learn about the people who built it and why and what they were thinking and feeling as they designed and constructed it—it becomes almost hallowed in its own right. Victor Hugo opined that architecture is (prepare yourselves for a butchering of his actual intended meaning) something of a window into the souls of those who made it, and their stories are told more boldly and clearly in stone than would ever be written on paper. And I like Victor Hugo. So there.

Now, most everyone has seen a Mormon temple—from the outside. But very few will ever step inside one. And even those with temple recommends will not be able to see most of the temples in the world—traveling is prohibitively expensive for most of the world’s population (which is why there is a period where the Church was building very small, nearly identical temples—to minimize cost and construction time so as to bring the temples to the people). But each temple has a story, and I find it is on the inside of the temple that the story is told in the most detail and with the most beauty. It’s the interior architecture that inspires me most. And that is why I would like to share with everybody my chronicle of the interior architecture of LDS temples, from oldest to newest.