10 Temples and the Amazing Treasures in Their Cornerstones

On the day before each temple dedication, a time capsule is placed in the cornerstone of the temple. The next day, the prophet or apostle dedicating the temple seals the cornerstone with mortar as part of the dedication ceremony. 

Cornerstones are symbolic of Christ, who is known as the "chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:20). Even in the early days of the Church in Nauvoo, leaders filled cornerstones with historic artifacts to commemorate the symbolic cornerstone.

While the time capsule doesn't have to include anything in particular, there are a few typical inclusions: a set of scriptures, the dedicatory prayer for the temple, a biography or book from the current prophet, and regional histories and pictures. 

Each temple assigns a collector for the time capsule. While collectors range from official historians to young women in the temple district, their task is to fill the time capsule with whatever they feel is important.

With 153 temples currently in operation, we won't list the contents of every temple's time capsule. But here are just a few cornerstones with interesting contents:

Image retrieved from lds.org.

President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the Draper Utah Temple on March 20, 2009. The day before the first dedicatory session, a small group of people gathered to place commemorative items

in the time capsule.

While the time capsule contains many of the typical inclusions, Deseret News reported that the time capsule also included a set of hand-crafted ink pens made from the roots of the scrub oak cleared from the temple lot and another set of pens made from the African makore wood used in the temple's interior.

President Monson invites a young boy to place mortar around the cornerstone. Image retrieved from deseretnews.com. 

Image retrieved from lds.org.

President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Nauvoo Illinois Temple on June 27, 2002, in 13 different sessions. Following President Hinckley, the mayors from Nauvoo, Quincy, Keokuk, and Fort

Madison took turns adding mortar to the cornerstone. 

According to Daily Gate, the time capsule included Standing for Something, by President Hinckley; a hymnal; a scrapbook containing press packets, brochures, photos, and articles about the Nauvoo Illinois Temple; a knife, trowel, and chisel used in temple construction; and a commemorative coin.

President Hinckley seals the cornerstone of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. Image retrieved from lds.org.

Image retrieved from lds.org.

After the Provo City Tabernacle transformed into the beautiful Provo City Center Temple, this historic building was dedicated by Elder Dallin H. Oaks on March 20, 2016.

To commemorate the history and memories of the old tabernacle and Provo, they included the books Provo's Two Temples and Called to Teach: The Legacy of Karl G. Maeser. Other histories and memorabilia from the historic tabernacle were also included in the time capsule. Read more about what was placed in the Provo City Center Temple cornerstone here. 

Books and artifacts added to the Provo City Center Temple cornerstone time capsule. Photo by A. LeGrand Richards. Image retrieved from byu.edu.

Image retrieved from lds.org.

On January 11, 2004, President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Accra Ghana Temple, which was the second temple dedicated in Africa (following the Johannesburg South Africa Temple in 1985, also by President Gordon B. Hinckley).

In the time capsule, they included letters from Ghanaians expressing interest in the Church before the 1978 priesthood revelation that allowed black Latter-day Saint men to hold the priesthood. In December 1978, the Church officially established the Church in Ghana, which was an answer to a 14-year prayer for those who had been living the gospel without ordinances like baptism, confirmation, or the sacrament.

These historic letters are also accompanied by photos and newspaper articles about the Church in Ghana from the year of the temple dedication.

Russell Tanner, Director of Temple Building for West Africa and Elder R. Conrad Schultz, second counselor in the Area Presidency, place the time capsule box in the cornerstone. Image retrieved from ldsmag.com.

Image retrieved from lds.org.

President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple on October 13, 1996. The beautiful temple was the second temple built in Utah County, following the Provo Utah Temple in 1972.

Included in the time capsule are two books by President Hinckley, brochures about the temple, and samples of the original wall coverings and wood moldings used in the temple. According to Utah Valley 360, the capsule also includes pictures of the general authorities and local temple committee.

Image retrieved from Mormon Newsroom.

Originally dedicated on June 29, 1985, by President Gordon B. Hinckley (then the counselor in the First Presidency), the Freiberg Germany Temple was rededicated in 2002 by President Gordon B. Hinckley and 2016 by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. 

The Freiberg Germany Temple was the first temple built in a communist nation, and members and nonmembers alike now enjoy the historical edifice and beautiful grounds. Since the temple has been dedicated and rededicated, the historic copies of the 1985 and 2002 dedicatory prayers have been added to the temple's time capsule.

Image retrieved from welt.de. 

Image retrieved from lds.org.

The Bountiful Utah Temple, dedicated by President Howard W. Hunter on January 8, 1995, has a special inclusion in its time capsule. The Primary children in a local ward worked together and bought a set of scriptures to donate especially for the cornerstone.

President and Sister Hunter, center, joined by President and Sister Hinckley, left, and President and Sister Monson, right, at the cornerstone ceremony. Image retrieved from lds.org.

Image retrieved from lds.org.

President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Manhattan New York Temple on June 13, 2004. Because the temple stands on the corner of West 65th Street, Broadway and Columbus Avenue, the

traditional cornerstone ceremony was held in the lobby of the building. Since the building also houses a meetinghouse and other church offices, the cornerstone on the exterior wall of the temple is still inside the building.

According to Deseret News, the time capsule included a copy of the New York Times; a commemorative crystal; and a commemorative white satin handkerchief detailed with gold, recreated after the handkerchiefs Joseph Smith commissioned for the first temple dedication in Kirtland, Ohio.

President Hinckley places mortar around the cornerstone in the Manhattan New York Temple. Image retrieved from ksl.com.

Image retrieved from lds.org.

President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple on August 21, 2009, on his 82nd birthday. On his way to the cornerstone, President Monson winked and wiggled his ears for the audience, who sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

In the time capsule, the collectors included a journal from the art missionaries who painted the interior murals; the bit used to carve designs into the glass windows; shavings from the glass carving—referred to as "Oquirrh Mountain Snow"; and an 800-page binder of memories and notes from members in the temple district.

Everything the collectors included in the time capsule followed the theme, "Make the temple a part of you, and become a part of the temple."

President Monson smiles at the crowd gathered to see the cornerstone ceremony. Image retrieved from sltrib.com).

Image retrieved from lds.org.

Dedicated by President Spencer W. Kimball on November 19, 1974, the Washington D.C. Temple towers above the beautiful temple grounds and visitor center. The temple is only 10 miles north of the U.S. Capitol, and many members and nonmembers alike visit the breathtaking grounds and temple.

According to the Washington Post, the time capsule included a copy of a letter from Brigham Young to the Secretary of War in 1845, petitioning to build forts for the government on the Mormon trek west. The cornerstone also holds a copy of a newspaper from the day before the dedication.

Image retrieved from lds.org.

Dedicated on April 6, 1893, by President Wilford Woodruff, the original Salt Lake Temple cornerstone contained historical documents and artifacts, including a set of Deseret gold coins, a Book of Mormon translated in French and Italian, and old copies of the Deseret News—among other publications.

Because older temples filled hollowed out stones with artifacts for the cornerstone rather than stainless steel boxes, moisture crept in and destroyed many of those artifacts. After 136 years, conservators drilled a small hole into the side of the cornerstone to insert a proctoscope, borrowed from a local hospital, to see what remained of the artifacts.

Conservators try to identify fragments of the 1857 artifacts. Image retrieved from Deseret News.

When they saw the deteriorating condition of the artifacts, they decided to drill a 16-inch hole into the cornerstone to extract the remaining contents and preserve them. Many of the preserved fragments are now in the Church History Library, including the section of the cornerstone they drilled out to reach the artifacts.

However, time capsules aren't just found in temples. Many of the Church's historical tabernacles, monuments, and buildings include time capsules or cornerstones, including the two listed below:

To commemorate the year the Conference Center was completed, a special time capsule was placed in the cornerstone, which included a set of scriptures signed by the First Presidency, a carved wooden beehive made from the same walnut tree as the podium, a hard hat used during construction, the conference editions of the Church magazines from 2000, information about the building's king truss, and pictures of the first ticket holder to enter the Conference Center to attend general conference. (Source: lds.org)

Image retrieved from lds.org.

Underneath the angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake City Temple resides another time capsule. According to Scott Woodward, this time capsule contains a list of names of every general authority at the time of the temple dedication, engraved on a polished brass plate; sheet music from original hymns written for the temple dedication; the books Voice of Warning, Spencer's Letter, Key to Theology, and a hymn book; photographs of Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph F. Smith; and a picture of the temple on the day of its dedication.

Image retrieved from lds.org.

Lead image from Mormon Newsroom. 

Learn more about other temple symbols in Understanding the Symbols, Covenants, and Ordinances of the Temple, available at Deseret Book and deseretbook.com.