February, 2010:

On the southwest corner of temple square stands the assembly hall, begun by LDS pioneers in 1877 and dedicated January 8, 1882. It is a gothic-style building. With its gabled roof and 130-foot spires, this unique building is adorned with forty stained glass windows. The interior panels are graced with carvings of beehives, sego lilies, and sheaves of grain, symbols meaningful to its pioneer builders.

Because 1880 was designated as a “Jubilee” year (fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Church), the builders incorporated the star of David in the structure, reminiscent of the Israelite jubilee celebrations in the Old Testament. As was the custom in Old Testament times, debts were forgiven and a great jubilee celebration was held (see Leviticus 25:8–10). In 1980 the Assembly Hall was closed for renovations, and when the doors were reopened in 1983 the building had hardwood flooring, elegant draperies, and a ceiling with gold-leaf designs.

During construction of the Assembly Hall, Charles J. Thomas was appointed as the first official guide on Temple Square. In 1876 he greeted and gave tours to four thousand visitors. Today hundreds of guides take millions of visitors on tours of Temple Square.

In 1848, a year after the pioneers settled in Salt Lake, hordes of crickets began to devour their first crops. The situation was dire, but a miracle occurred when flocks of seagulls from the Great Salt Lake flew in and began to feast upon the crickets. An eyewitness, pioneer Priddy Meeks, reported, “They would eat crickets and throw them up again and fill themselves again and right away throw them up again.” For over two weeks, the gulls came until the crickets were effectively eliminated. Utah citizens designated the seagull as the state bird, and in 1912 the Church commissioned a monument to the seagull on Temple Square celebrating this miracle.

The Miracle of the Gulls Monument was designed and executed by Mahonri M. Young, grandson of Brigham Young. His work is in more than fifty museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the rotunda of the National Capitol Building.

-Robert L Hall

Stained Glass Windows

There are forty of these stained glass windows around the Assembly Hall. Shown are sego lilies, whose roots saved the pioneers from starvation in the early years.

- Robert L. Hall

In the early pioneer era, the site of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building was occupied by the Deseret News press buildings, the Tithing Offices, the General Bishops’ Storehouse, and stockyards. In 1911 the Church built a well-appointed hotel known as the Hotel Utah. The ten-story, 468,433-square-foot structure now serves as the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Aerial view of Temple Square, plaza, and Joseph Smith Memorial Building,
taken from the nineteenth floor of the Gateway Tower West

David M. Whitchurch

The Tithing Office

Latter-day Saints believe that the payment of tithing is a law of God (see Malachi 3:8–10; D&C 119). The main Church Tithing Office was on the northeast corner of the intersection of South Temple and Main streets. Church members donated 10 percent of their income “in kind.” That meant tithing often came in the form of cattle, poultry, and produce. Consequently, stockyards were located to the northeast, behind the office and storage buildings. The Church paid its workers from the proceeds available at the “tithing store.”

As a young man, President Joseph F. Smith told of bringing his mother’s tithing to the site: I was a little boy at the time, and drove the team. When we drove up to the steps of the tithing office, ready to unload the potatoes, one of the clerks came out and said to my mother, “Widow Smith, it’s a shame that you should have to pay tithing.” He said a number of other things that I remember well, but they are not necessary for me to repeat here. The . . . name of that tithing clerk was William Thompson, and he chided my mother for paying her tithing, called her anything but wise or prudent; and said there were others who were strong and able to work that were supported from the tithing office. My mother turned upon him and said: “William, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Would you deny me a blessing? If I did not pay my tithing, I should expect the Lord to withhold His blessings from me. I pay my tithing, not only because it is a law of God, but because I expect a blessing by doing it. By keeping this and other laws, I expect to prosper and to be able to provide for my family.”

The Hotel Utah

The Hotel Utah was built in harmony with a revelation the Prophet Joseph Smith received in Nauvoo, Illinois, that encouraged the building of “a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein; therefore let it be a good house, worthy of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord” (D&C 124:23). When the revelation was received, the Nauvoo Saints began construction of the “Nauvoo House,” which was to become a large hotel in town, but it was never completed as envisioned.

Hotel Utah Ballroom

However, once the Church was firmly established in Utah, the need for a well-appointed hotel near Church headquarters was discussed. The Hotel Utah opened for business on June 9, 1911, as one of the finest hotels west of the Mississippi River. Its underground parking facility, built in the 1940s, was the first of its kind in the nation. Many U.S. Presidents and other world dignitaries stayed there. President David O. McKay and later President Spencer W. Kimball each lived in a private apartment on the eighth floor as their health became more delicate due to advanced age.

The cupola above the Joseph Smith Memorial Building bears symbols of
freedom and industry important to Latter-day Saints.

David M. Whitchurch

The lobby and balconies in the Joseph Smith Building are
ornate, reflecting early-twentieth century style

David M. Whitchurch

The Joseph Smith Memorial Building

When President Gordon B. Hinckley proposed the hotel be renovated in 1987 for Church purposes, the community was concerned, and some even spoke harshly of the decision. But when the renovation was complete in 1993, the results were impressive and pleasing to almost everyone. Public access was enhanced. Structural stability was improved. The original hotel had no building requirements for earthquake safety. Today the building’s original footings have been replaced with new larger footings with seven huge concrete shear walls that extend from the basement to the tenth floor. Since it is no longer a hotel, the building was renamed the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

The Joseph Smith Memorial Building houses the Legacy Theater, the FamilySearch Center, two rooftop restaurants, a chapel, and other special events facilities. The Legacy Theater shows a seventy-millimeter movie every ninety minutes. For many years the film Legacy was shown, which highlights early events in Church history. Then a movie about the visit of Christ to the Americas called The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd was shown. In December 2005 Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration was introduced.

The FamilySearch Center contains two hundred computers, and helpful assistants can show visitors how to fill in their family trees. This training area assists patrons who wish to start computer research on their ancestors.

A heroic-size statue of the Prophet Joseph Smith highlights
the lobby of the building that bears his name

Robert L. Hall

A chapel on the second, or mezzanine, floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial
Building is used by Latter-day Saints who live around Temple Square

Robert L. Hall

Elegant detail reminiscent of the gilded age adorns the lobby

David M. Whitchurch

There are intricate moldings throughout the building, and beehive carvings adorn the pulpit in the chapel. A heroic-sized statue of Joseph Smith is found in the lobby and can also be viewed from the mezzanine floor above. Many meetings and receptions are held in the beautiful setting of this renovated structure.

The view from the tenth floor is spectacular. It offers a unique view of Temple Square and the entire Salt Lake Valley. Emigration Canyon can be seen in the Wasatch Mountains to the east, where the Saints first entered the Salt Lake Valley. Immediately to the east is the Church Administration Building, which houses the offices of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. The Church Office Building sits across a plaza to the north with a fountain between it and the Administration Building. The Relief Society Building is on the northwest corner of the block. Temple Square occupies the entire block just across the pedestrian plaza to the west of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

On the top floor, the northernmost eatery is the Garden Restaurant, a fine-dining buffet with a retractable glass roof. The Roof Restaurant offers a less formal atmosphere. Both of these restaurants enjoy a gorgeous view of Temple Square and the western expanse of the Salt Lake Valley.

The angel Moroni statue stands atop many Latter-day
Saint temples and trumpets the Restoration of the gospel

David M. Whitchurch

Inspired Name

The naming of the renovated structure came about in an unusual way. On May 5, 1993, President Hinckley had been reflecting in the night on the new name of the structure:

After trying unsuccessfully to go back to sleep, he finally got up and stared out the window at the historic block that housed the old hotel, the Church Administration and Office Buildings, and the Lion and Beehive Houses. For a few moments his mind raced back and forth between past and present. He had spent a lot of his life on that block—beginning at the Deseret Gym as a boy and continuing as a teenager at LDS High School, where the campus had included both a Young Building and a Smith Building—one named for Brigham Young, the other for Joseph F. Smith.

Then he had a powerful and clear impression: There were many monuments to Brigham Young in downtown Salt Lake City, but none to the Prophet Joseph Smith except a statue within the walls of Temple Square.

The Hotel Utah, which had been exquisitely restored and would not only serve various Church functions but provide the public with many reasons to visit its precincts, should be named the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

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Shortly after Brigham Young had arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, he encouraged the Saints to bring “all kinds of mathematical and philosophical instruments, together with all rare specimens of natural curiosities and works of art, . . . from which, the rising generation can receive instruction; and . . . we will soon have the best, the most useful and attractive museum.”

The Museum of Church History and Art • David M. Whitchurch

Over the years, several LDS museums have been located in various places around the city. In 1980 President Spencer W. Kimball announced the location and the plans to build a new 63,500-square-foot museum. This cultural treasure was opened to the public in 1984 and includes depictions of Church history and art from its origins to the present day.

via BYU Virtual Tours: LDS Museum of Church History and Art.