The Salt Lake Temple was built by leaders like Brigham Young, emigrant craftsmen, and local members—through detailed planning, expert masonry, and even the donations of little children. Beginning in 1843, stone was cut from a Utah mountain and transported by wagon and later rail to the Temple Block in Salt Lake City. There, it was refined and raised into place according to the intricate designs of Truman O. Angell. The First Presidency also managed a constant labor shortage caused by the simultaneous work on public projects like the Social Hall and Tabernacle, filling the gap with a wide variety of workers and volunteers. In this interview, Scott D. Marianno shares the fascinating stories of those who built the temple.
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Building the Salt Lake Temple: Historical Overview
How long did it take to build the Salt Lake Temple?
The temple took 40 years to construct. Latter-day Saints broke ground on the temple in 1853 and dedicated the temple in 1893.
Much had changed for the Saints in the interim. They had built dozens of new settlements around Utah Territory and three other temples before completing the Salt Lake Temple.
The Israelite context of 40 years was not lost on them, but it was not intentional.
Brigham Young would have preferred to see the temple constructed in his lifetime, but he did not want to compromise its quality.
Where did the temple’s granite come from?
The first stones for the temple foundation (and the wall around the Temple Block) were harvested from Red Butte Canyon, over four miles east of Salt Lake City.
How did Salt Lake Temple workers get the stone from the quarry to the temple site?
Initial attempts to build a wooden railroad in 1851 to transport red sandstone failed, so they continued with wagons and oxen.
In 1854, Truman O. Angell initiated a change in temple composition from adobe walls to granite discovered in Big Cottonwood Canyon southeast of the city. Moving the heavy granite blocks proved even more challenging.
They continued with wagon and oxen until a rail line was completed.
The distance to the Temple Block had essentially quadrupled. They attempted to build a canal to float the stone, but could not keep it from draining, so they continued with wagon and oxen until a rail line was completed in 1873 from Little Cottonwood Canyon (where most of the stone was harvested) to the Temple Block.
The challenges associated with transporting stone became one of the primary reasons for the temple’s prolonged construction time.
Famous Figures Who Helped Build the Salt Lake Temple
To what extent was Brigham Young personally involved in the temple’s construction?
The design of the temple was a negotiation between Brigham Young and Truman O. Angell (Brigham’s brother-in-law and the Church Architect).
According to William Ward, Angell’s assistant:
Brigham Young drew upon a slate in the architect’s office a sketch, and said to Truman O. Angell:
‘There will be ‘There will be three towers on the east, representing the President and his two Counselors; also three similar towers on the west representing the Presiding Bishop and his two Counselors; the towers on the east the Melchisedek priesthood, those on the west the Aaronic priesthood. The center towers will be higher than those on the sides, and the west towers a little lower than those on the east end.’
Brigham Young also specified the building’s dimensions, some of which were drawn from the Nauvoo Temple.
Angell later shared that many of the design elements were left up to him. Young and future Church presidents monitored reports on the construction but did not get involved in the day-to-day work.
Both Young and Angell would die before significant decisions on the temple’s interior were made.
Brigham Young’s Delegation
As an example of Brigham Young’s willingness to defer elements of the temple’s construction to others, at the October 1852 General Conference, Heber C. Kimball took “a vote from the congregation concerning the temple, whether we shall have it built of the stone from Red Butte, or of adobies, or timber, or of the best quality of stone that can be found in the mountains.”
Brigham Young favored thick adobe walls. Kimball and others favored stone.
Many of the surrounding buildings were being built of adobe and Young believed that adobe would strengthen over time and turn into stone. He initially won out, but it became clear to Truman O. Angell that adobe would not support the massive structure they intended to build.
They switched to granite, which forced changes to the exterior ornamentation (granite was more challenging to carve).
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What pros and cons did Brigham Young weigh regarding the transcontinental railroad?
Young worried that the railroad would connect Latter-day Saints too much to the seemingly corruptible influence of eastern markets. He valued self-sufficiency and home industry.
The railroad was going to be built whether Latter-day Saints helped or not.
But the economy of Utah Territory was cash-starved, and the railroad was going to be built whether Latter-day Saints helped or not.
Ultimately, he could not turn down the grading contracts as the railroad approached Utah.
In August 1868, Young suspended temple construction and diverted labor to complete segments of the railroad. Latter-day Saint laborers graded significant portions of the transcontinental railroad through Echo and Weber canyons and from the Utah-Nevada border.
He later commissioned a railroad to be built from the temple quarry to the Temple Block, which significantly expedited temple construction.
The railroad became a major factor.
Don Carlos Young would later use the railroad to import furnishings from the eastern United States.
The railroad became a major factor in the temple’s completion, despite the initial diversion of resources to aid its construction.
What can we learn about Brigham’s leadership style from his decision to simultaneously pursue public works initiatives?
Brigham Young governed by expediency. He sat at the convergence of ecclesiastical and civic priorities. He rallied Latter-day Saints behind them through his role as prophet and president and built expectations.
But he had others to accomplish the work under his leadership.
Daniel H. Wells, an Apostle and later counselor in Young’s First Presidency, ran the Public Works Department, which at any given time was supervising multiple building projects in Salt Lake City.
For years, the work of settlement building diverted money, labor, and materials from the work of building the temple.
He knew when to apply pressure and when to let others administer.
Young helped prioritize the development of industries across Utah Territory and rallied the Church behind the theological or doctrinal impetus for their physical kingdom building. At the same time, he had others helping to supervise the day-to-day work.
Some want to see him as an unchecked monarch, but he knew when to apply pressure and when to let others administer.
How did the First Presidency deal with the constant shortage of skilled workers?
Brigham Young and his counselors sent frequent messages to missionaries laboring in Europe asking for converted Latter-day Saints to gather to the Salt Lake Valley.
The temple was built by immigrants needing jobs as they arrived in Salt Lake City. Over time, the notices, written in epistles and published in church-owned newspapers, became more specific about local needs on the Temple Block.
It became one of the great challenges.
Church leaders asked for mechanics, artisans, and machinery as much as they searched for general laborers.
Managing a diverse and sometimes unskilled labor force became one of the great challenges and triumphs of temple construction.
Was there ever a time when Brigham Young thought the temple might not be completed in his lifetime?
In 1865, Brigham Young said that he expected the temple to stand through the Millennium “as a proud monument of the faith, perseverance and industry of the Saints of God in the mountains.”
This was on the heels of his ordering the re-laying of some of the temple’s flagging and basement courses of stone. Transportation challenges and the slow rising of the temple walls gave him a pretty good idea that he would not see the temple’s completion later in his life.
But he wanted quality over expedited construction. And, of course, he saw the St. George Temple built and dedicated before he passed away.
How instrumental was Truman O. Angell to the Salt Lake Temple’s construction?
Truman O. Angell was a central character in the temple’s construction. He was thrust into service when William Weeks, the Nauvoo Temple’s architect, left the Salt Lake Valley shortly after arriving in 1847.
He had previous carpentry experience, but his architectural skills grew on the job.
The style and look of the temple was his work.
In the 1850s, Angell worked on many competing architectural projects to essentially build out Salt Lake City.
In 1856, Brigham Young sent him to Europe for a much-needed vacation and to study architectural styles there. He returned from that trip unimpressed.
The style and look of the temple, the organization of the stone courses on the Temple Block—all of that was Truman O. Angell’s work.
What happened when he resigned?
In 1861, he quit again, and assistant architect William Folsom took over while Angell retreated to his farm to recuperate from some health challenges.
Folsom struggled under the same pressures Angell faced. How do you balance competing construction priorities (like a tabernacle and theater) with the temple?
Angell eventually returned and stayed in his position until his death. In the 1880s, as his mental and physical health deteriorated, he invited his son, Truman Angell Jr., to join him in the Architect’s Office.
How did Truman O. Angell reflect on his contributions to the Salt Lake Temple?
He felt underappreciated and overworked. But the financial and legal demands on the Church in the 1880s really left the First Presidency searching for what they could do for him. Truman’s story is one of resilience, devotion, and sacrifice.
He wrote a pointed letter to President John Taylor about his struggles. “I have not been selfish, and will go down to my grave a pauper,” he said.
Everyday Workers and the Salt Lake Temple Construction Process
Where did the temple quarry employees work?
When we speak of a temple quarry, we are referring to three different locations, depending on the year of construction. The first quarry was up Red Butte Canyon. Then they moved to Big Cottonwood Canyon with the pivot to granite, and eventually they settled in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
What did some of their jobs entail?
They were in search of large pieces of stone that had already been sheared from canyon walls by natural processes (glaciation). Nature, in essence, had prepared the stone for the temple.
Quarrymen used course charts designed by Truman O. Angell to split the blocks to the rough dimensions required for the temple walls. It was tedious work with drill bits and chisels.
Whole villages developed around these quarries.
They would then mark the stone according to its destined course and transport it to the Temple Block.
Whole villages developed around these quarries to support the workers. There were stores, dining halls, and boarding houses. Blacksmiths also operated in the village to sharpen the tools needed to split the stone.
Could you describe the demographics of a typical quarry worker?
The gathering of convert immigrants to the Salt Lake Valley at the time really influenced the demographic makeup of the quarries. The work often required interethnic collaboration as multiple languages were spoken.
- Some of the workers in the quarry were young, single Latter-day Saint men from Western Europe who hoped to use their wages to repay their debts to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund or to send money to distant family members to help with their immigration.
- Others had families who visited them in the warm-weather months.
- Local wards also assigned laborers as a form of tithing to work in the quarry.
- Priesthood quorums received labor quotas to fill in the quarry (and in hauling the stone by wagon from the quarry).
Not all had quarrying experience and had to learn on the job.
How did stonecutters refine the granite’s shape once it reached the temple site?
Stonecutting at the Temple Block required more skilled craftsmen than was needed at the quarry. Stones were transported and laid out by course on the Temple Block, awaiting further refinement by the finish workers.
Not all stones were exterior facing, but the ones that were, especially those that contained symbols or other ornamentation, required extra time and effort.
This led to a queue of stones on the Temple Block.
At any given time, 50 to 80 stonecutters could be employed in this work. Constructing the walls also required blacksmiths and others to sharpen tools.
Masons secured the stones in place with lime mortar.
All of this labor occurred based on drawings and specifications supplied by Truman O. Angell.
What might it have looked like for a pioneer to watch a stone block be raised and fit into place?
It depended on the era. Pretty early in temple construction, Truman O. Angell employed wooden derricks to move stones into place. Finished stones weighed thousands of pounds and required machinery to move them.
In the 1870s, Angell devised a new steam-powered derrick system. The temple was essentially an empty shell until the completion of the walls and towers, so derricks were constructed on the interior four corners.
Those watching would have seen a pulley system raise and move stone into place.
Those watching from the Temple Block would have seen any one of these derricks operating with an exterior pulley system to raise and move stone into place.
Swinging stone around the Temple Block eventually became too dangerous, so Angell added an interior trestle system in which stone could be raised by steam power and moved along tracks east to west inside the temple. Derricks and masons would then situate the stone in its final place in the walls.
Could you share an inspirational story from a lesser-known pioneer involved in the temple’s construction?
Most inspiring to me I think were the many Latter-day Saints that donated to temple construction to help offset the accumulating debt, especially as the temple neared completion.
Church leaders issued multiple calls for donations, including a day of fasting in May 1892, following the laying of the capstone on the central east spire.
When ground was broken on the temple in February 1853, Latter-day Saints brought shovels to dig out the foundation. It truly was a community project, and it culminated in the financial sacrifices of many to ensure the temple could be furnished and dedicated.
Even children donated their pennies to the temple.
Even children from the Church’s Sunday School for Deaf Mutes, affiliated with the Utah School for the Deaf in Salt Lake City, donated their pennies to the temple.
The Salt Lake Temple’s completion required individuals from diverse backgrounds to commit to their assigned roles in its construction.
“Always Changing”: The Dynamic Legacy of the Salt Lake Temple
How does the Salt Lake Temple’s pioneer role as a “developing place” figure into the temple’s overarching story that continues to be written?
As Reid Neilson and I make clear at the beginning of our book, readers should dispense with the notion of a stone building like the Salt Lake Temple as static, unchanging, and inanimate.
We position the temple as a main character in the Church’s story. It was key to the development of the Church and to major changes within that story.
In a way, the temple is always developing, always changing with the people who use and worship inside of it.
Changes to the temple have always been about the needs of the people.
The next chapter in the Salt Lake Temple’s history is being written now as the temple is refreshed and renovated to accommodate a modern, global Church.
There will be some lamenting and sadness surrounding the loss of some of the historic characteristics of the temple, but this was true of previous renovations of the temple as well.
Changes to the temple—its development—have always been about the needs of the people who worship in it and revere it as a sacred space. That dynamic will persist long after the temple is dedicated again.
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About the Scholar
Scott D. Marianno is a historian and supervising archivist at the Church History Library, where he writes on Latter-day Saint history and the American West. He is the co-author of the award-winning Restless Pilgrim: Andrew Jenson’s Quest for Latter-day Saint History (University of Illinois Press, 2022). His latest book from Oxford University Press provides a dynamic history of the Salt Lake Temple from its construction to the present day, including the roles of everyday members, emigrant workers, and prominent leaders such as Brigham Young and Truman Angell in the temple’s evolution from a pioneer structure to a global icon and symbol.
Further Reading
Explore more From the Desk articles about early Latter-day Saint temples and the environment in which pioneers lived:
- How Did Truman Angell Contribute to the Kirtland Temple?
- How Has Temple Worship Evolved Since Joseph Smith’s Time?
- Did Moroni Dedicate the Manti Temple Site?
- How Was the St. George Temple Built?
- What Was Brigham Young’s Swift Pony Express?
Salt Lake Temple Construction History Resources
Read what top scholars and publishers say about the construction of the Salt Lake Temple, including a contribution to Oxford’s “Sacred Sites” series:
- The Salt Lake Temple: Sacred Sites (Oxford University Press)
- Researching the Salt Lake Temple at the Church History Library (Church History Library)
- The Design, Construction, and Role of the Salt Lake Temple (BYU Religious Studies Center)
- Surprising Stories, Fun Facts, and Other Things You Might Not Know About the Salt Lake Temple (Church News)
- ‘Epic’ Salt Lake Temple Renovation ‘Is the Biggest Preservation Project’ in Latter-day Saint History (Deseret News)
One reply on “Who Built the Salt Lake Temple?”
My ancestors were finish masons and worked extensively on the towers. The family history indicates that they had some influence on the design, which was recounted with a point of pride in the history, though it is anecdotal. All we have is the recounted story and a photo from their home village in Denmark and names.