Temple Lot

The Temple Lot, located in Independence, Missouri, is the first site to be dedicated for the construction of a temple in the Latter Day Saint movement. The area was dedicated on August 3, 1831, by the movement's founder, Joseph Smith. It was purchased on December 19, 1831, by Edward Partridge to be the center of the New Jerusalem or "City of Zion" after Smith said he received a revelation stating that it would be the gathering spot of the Latter Day Saints during the last days. The most prominent section of the Temple Lot is currently an open, grass-covered field occupied in its northeast corner by a few trees and the headquarters of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), which is not considered a temple by adherents of that sect. No other structures (with the exception of monuments, markers and signposts) exist on the section, although numerous important structures exist on the section, such as the United Nations Peace Plaza, the Community of Christ Auditorium, the Truman Railroad Depot, the LDS Visitors Center, the Community of Christ Temple, a stake center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and the Six Nations Tree of Peace. The city of Independence, Missouri, became important to the Latter Day Saint movement starting in the autumn of 1830, only a few months after the religion was incorporated in the state of New York in April 1830. The movement's founder, Joseph Smith, said he received revelations designating this city as the "Center Place" of "Zion", and many early adherents apparently believed that the Garden of Eden had been located there—including later LDS Church leaders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, who said he was told this by Smith. Alexander Majors, who was a sixteen-year-old resident of Independence in 1831, wrote in his memoirs: Nothing of very great note occurred in the county of Jackson, after the cyclone of 1826, until the year 1830, when five Mormon elders made their appearance in the county and commenced preaching, stating to their audiences that they were chosen by the priesthood which had been organized by the prophet Joseph Smith.