Each corner of the great Temple is marked by a large tower; and in each of these four corner towers is a stairway reaching from basement to roof, and every step is of solid granite. A central column of granite four feet in diameter supports, at the inner end, the one hundred and seventy-seven granite steps. Each step is six feet six inches long and weighs over seventeen hundred pounds; this amounts to over one and a quarter million pounds as the weight of the seven hundred and eight steps in the four tower stairways.
C. R. Savage Co.
<i>The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern</i>