Salt Lake Utah Temple

The Salt Lake Temple features six spires of gray quartz monzonite, with the tallest topped by a gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni. Construction began in eighteen fifty-three, and it took forty years to complete. During the Utah War, workers buried the massive granite foundation with soil to hide it from approaching federal troops. They restored the site years later, once the threat passed, ensuring the building rose exactly where it had been planned for decades.