The city square or block upon which stands the great Temple is occupied in part by other buildings devoted to Church purposes; among these are the Assembly Hall, the Tabernacle, the Bureau of Information, and, on the north half, therefore not shown in the picture, the Temple Annex, the Conservatory, and other minor buildings.
Temple Block is a square of ten acres; it was laid off in 1847, and reserved for the uses to which it has since been put; this was but a few days after the arrival of the "Mormon" Pioneers in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. The entire block is surrounded by a wall fifteen feet high, consisting of a base of cut sandstone, courses of adobes or sun-dried brick, capped by a sandstone coping; the adobes are plastered on both sides. The block has been beautified by the best art of the landscape gardner, and with its wealth of trees, shrubs and flowers, presents a scene of attractive beauty.
C. R. Savage Co.
<i>The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern</i>