The Temple Lot, located in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, is the first site to be dedicated for the construction of a temple in the Latter Day Saint movement. The area was dedicated on Wednesday, August 3, 1831 by the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., and purchased on December 19, 1831 by his colleague Edward Partridge to be the center of the New Jerusalem or "City of Zion" after he received a revelation stating that it would be the gathering spot of the Saints during the Last Days.
The most prominent 2.5-acre section of the Temple Lot is currently an open, grass-covered field occupied in its northeast corner by a few trees and the headquarters of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), which is not considered a temple by adherents of that sect. No other structures (with the exception of monuments, markers and signposts) exist on the 2.5-acre section, although numerous important structures exist on the 63.5-acre section, such as the United Nations Peace Plaza, the Community of Christ Auditorium, the Truman Railroad Depot, the LDS Visitors Center, the Community of Christ Temple, an LDS Church stake center, and the Six Nations Tree of Peace.
Famous quotes containing the words temple and/or lot:
“If one doubts whether Grecian valor and patriotism are not a fiction of the poets, he may go to Athens and see still upon the walls of the temple of Minerva the circular marks made by the shields taken from the enemy in the Persian war, which were suspended there. We have not far to seek for living and unquestionable evidence. The very dust takes shape and confirms some story which we had read.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If there is a gratification which I envy any people in this world it is to your country [Italy] its music. This is the favorite passion of my soul, and fortune has cast my lot in a country where it is in a state of deplorable barbarism.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)