St. George Utah Temple

The St. George Utah Temple is the oldest operating Mormon temple in the world, completed in 1877 after six years of construction. It rises above the town centre in brilliant white — painted rather than the natural stone of later temples — and is visible from most of the surrounding valley. The design draws on New England ecclesiastical architecture, with a prominent central tower that was modelled on steeples Young had known in upstate New York.

The temple itself is open only to members of the LDS Church in good standing, but the surrounding grounds are open to all. The adjacent visitor centre offers an overview of the temple's history and the broader story of the Mormon settlement of southern Utah. Worth a walk around even for secular visitors — it is a genuine piece of frontier religious history, and the grounds are immaculate.

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A story
When Brigham Young sent settlers to St. George in 1861 to grow cotton, he wanted a temple built quickly — the nearest existing one was in Salt Lake City, too far for southern Utah members to attend. Construction of the St. George Temple began in 1871 and was completed in 1877, the same year Brigham Young died. It was the first working temple the LDS Church ever finished, and Young himself attended the dedication ceremony just months before his death.