My Curious View of Temple Square

I just got to explore Temple Square in Salt Lake again. I wanted to share some of my photos and observations.

I call this Photo "Herod's Tower." It shows the Salt Lake Temple (bottom left corner) and the Church Office Building (on the right) towering above it. This angle is a little bit deceptive because I'm actually closer to the COB than I am to the Temple, but in reality the COB is taller than the Temple, and its design makes it quite an eyesore, and this photo captures how I feel about that.

Near where I took that picture, we found a statue of Joseph and Emma Smith. It has a caption about giving to the poor, but we found it curious that Joseph is handing Emma a coin.


The coin appears to be modeled after some real coin, with a year and other symbols on it, but it is in an awkward position and my camera wasn't strong enough to pick it up with clarity, so I'm not sure what it is.


This is a picture of the northeast corner of the Salt Lake Temple with the Annex building clearly in view, and reflected in the pool. This Annex is not to be confused with the more beautiful building which once existed, and housed many additional sealing rooms to handle overflow from the Temple. The current annex, from my knowledge, serves mainly (if not only) as a reception area, recommend desk, and possibly clothing rental facility, from whence an underground passage leads to the main Temple. Some of this functionality takes place underground, however, and I lose my bearings on exactly whether it is under the annex or in the Temple "basement," or somewhere in between. Nevertheless, this current Annex is a complementary match to the architecture of the Temple itself.


This is my favorite pipe organ on Temple Square. It is located in the Assembly Hall, just south of the Tabernacle. One of the Sister Missionaries graciously let me go up on the stage to take a close up picture of this organ even though they had a white video screen set up in front of it blocking its visibility from the hall itself. Notice the Alpha and Omega symbolism on the medallions. The other medallions also have interesting and unique symbolism. I will have to analyze other pictures of it to determine what all of them are. I love the "trumpet pipes" coming out the front of this organ. And, finally, a classic picture:


This is my photo of the Salt Lake Temple, Annex, Tabernacle, and Conference Center, taken from the 10th floor of the former Hotel Utah (Now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.) I haven't edited it at all, so there is some minor reflection from the window. You can also see the Hotel Utah's 10th floor "fringe" in the bottom right corner of the photo. This is the first time I've taken a clear picture of the Temple from an angle that hasn't made it look skewed or distorted, as photos from the ground are apt to do, and I think it turned out pretty good.

I will post more pictures of Temple Square and the surrounding area soon.