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“This is where the First Vision occurred, and I think it appropriate that we build a house of the Lord on this ground,” said President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ, at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Palmyra New York Temple. “I regard this temple as perhaps the most significant, in one respect, in the entire Church. It was right here in the Sacred Grove where it all began.”
President Hinckley continued, “I marvel at what has happened here. From the First Vision this work has spread over the earth to more than 160 nations with more than 10 million people who are members of this Church. Who could ever have imagined it when that boy [Joseph Smith] walked into the grove, that the consequences of that event would become what we see today?”
President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, also spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony. Quoting John Ruskin, an English essayist, he said, “‘Wherefore, when we build, let us think that we build forever. ... Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for, and let us think as we lay stone that a time will come when those stones will be held sacred, and wrought substances of them: See this our fathers did for us.’”
One year after the groundbreaking ceremony, President Hinckley dedicated the Palmyra New York Temple on April 6, 2000. “To me, it’s a miracle,” the Prophet said when the rain and the clouds from the morning parted right as the dedication began. And in the dedicatory prayer, President Hinckley said of the First Vision, “This wondrous event parted the curtain that had been closed for centuries.”
Those at the dedication saw the parting of the rain and clouds that day as a symbolic reminder of how the First Vision had parted the curtain of spiritual darkness from the earth.
President Hinckley was accompanied by his wife, Marjorie Pay Hinckley; President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; and Elder W. Craig Zwick of the Seventy.
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Dear Father, we acknowledge that it all began here. We marvel, and we gather today in these precincts, which were sanctified by Thy presence and the presence of Thy Son, to dedicate unto Thee and unto Him this, the Palmyra New York Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Palmyra New York Temple here.
A temple for Palmyra, New York, was announced on Feb. 9, 1999, in a letter from the First Presidency to local priesthood leaders. The First Presidency at the time consisted of Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust.
On May 25, 1999, almost four months after the house of the Lord was announced, President Hinckley presided over the temple’s groundbreaking ceremony. President Monson, his first counselor, was also in attendance.
Following a special guest open house held from March 23 to March 24, 2000, a public open house was held from March 25 to April 1, 2000. Approximately 32,000 attended the temple open house.
The Palmyra New York Temple was dedicated across four sessions on April 6, 2000, by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, also attended the event.
The Palmyra New York Temple was announced on Feb. 9, 1999. Ground was broken almost four months later, and on April 6, 2000, President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the completed temple.
Overlooking the Smith Family Farm, the Palmyra New York Temple sits on a gently sloping hilltop of five acres. Below the hill, toward the north, is a replica of the Smiths’ first log home. Toward the south is a white frame home — the Smiths’ second home, begun by Alvin Smith. To the west is the Sacred Grove, and three miles south of the temple is the Hill Cumorah.
The exterior finish of the Palmyra temple was made from Bethel White granite, the exterior windows all made of stained-glass depictions of the Sacred Grove. A gold-colored statue of the angel Moroni sits on the steeple of the structure.
Inside the temple hangs a backlit mural of the First Vision. A lobby was created with special windows of clear glass to overlook the Sacred Grove. Throughout the temple’s rooms and hallways are cherrywood moldings. The structure includes a celestial room, a baptistry, two ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms.
9 February 1999
6 April 2000
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This was the first Latter-day Saint temple dedicated in New York. The state’s second temple, the Manhattan New York Temple, was dedicated four years later.
At the time of the Palmyra temple’s announcement, there had been 54 operating temples and 45 announced.
Its announcement brought the total number of temples in operation, under construction or in planning stages to 100.
The Palmyra temple was dedicated exactly 170 years — to the day — after the Church of Jesus Christ was organized in Fayette, New York.
The Palmyra New York Temple took just under a year and two months to be built, from announcement to dedication.
Approximately 17,000 pieces of glass were created to make the stained-glass windows found on the front doors of the temple, the celestial room and the baptistry.
Palmyra, New York, is considered by some “The Cradle of the Restoration.”
In February 1999, the Palmyra temple was the 28th temple to be announced since April 1998 general conference. During this conference, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley told members that 30 temples would soon be announced in the following year.
The year after April 1998 general conference, just as many temples were announced as had been dedicated in the history of the restored Church up to that point.
The Whitmer Farm, where the Church was first organized, is around 20 miles southeast of the Palmyra temple.
There was such a large interest among Church members to watch the dedication that the Church broadcast the first dedicatory session to Saints across six time zones and in seven languages. At the time, it had been the largest broadcast for a temple dedication in Church history.
This was the first Latter-day Saint temple dedicated in New York. The state’s second temple, the Manhattan New York Temple, was dedicated four years later.
At the time of the Palmyra temple’s announcement, there had been 54 operating temples and 45 announced.
Its announcement brought the total number of temples in operation, under construction or in planning stages to 100.
The Palmyra temple was dedicated exactly 170 years — to the day — after the Church of Jesus Christ was organized in Fayette, New York.
The Palmyra New York Temple took just under a year and two months to be built, from announcement to dedication.
Approximately 17,000 pieces of glass were created to make the stained-glass windows found on the front doors of the temple, the celestial room and the baptistry.
Palmyra, New York, is considered by some “The Cradle of the Restoration.”
In February 1999, the Palmyra temple was the 28th temple to be announced since April 1998 general conference. During this conference, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley told members that 30 temples would soon be announced in the following year.
The year after April 1998 general conference, just as many temples were announced as had been dedicated in the history of the restored Church up to that point.
The Whitmer Farm, where the Church was first organized, is around 20 miles southeast of the Palmyra temple.
There was such a large interest among Church members to watch the dedication that the Church broadcast the first dedicatory session to Saints across six time zones and in seven languages. At the time, it had been the largest broadcast for a temple dedication in Church history.