Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter-day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity, developed by Joseph Smith in upstate New York in the 1820s. After Smith’s death in 1844, the Mormons followed pioneer Brigham Young to what would become the Utah Territory, today known as the State of Utah.

In 1871, Brigham Young announced the building of the first temple by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in St. George, Utah. The project was dedicated in 1877 and was built to satisfy the church’s immediate need for an appropriate place for temple ceremonies and ordinances.

The walls of the temple were built of the red sandstone common to the area and then plastered for a white finish. Local church members worked for over five -and-a-half years to complete the temple. Workers opened new rock quarries, cut, hauled and planed timber and donated one day in ten as tithing labour. Some members donated half their wages to the temple, while others gave food, clothing and other goods to aid those who were working full-time on the building.

The St. George Utah Temple is the oldest temple still actively used by the Latter-day Saints Church. The temple currently has a total floor area of 110,000 square feet (10,200 square metres). After remodeling the interior, the temple was rededicated in 1975.