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The Washington D.C. Temple (formerly the Washington Temple) is the 18th constructed and 16th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is located in along the Capital Beltway in Kensington, Maryland, USA, just north of Washington, DC. The temple was dedicated in 1974 after an open house that attracted over 750,000 people including several international dignitaries. The Washington D.C. Temple was the first LDS temple built east of the Mississippi River since 1846, when the original Nauvoo Temple was dedicated. (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress)
Travelers navigating the north side of the Capital Beltway (I-495) see the spires of a castle-like building that has inspired the graffiti “Surrender Dorothy” on a nearby railroad overpass. This soaring edifice was built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormons, as their first temple located on the East Coast. Temple visitation is reserved for specialized religious rites such as sealings (marriages) and vicarious baptisms for deceased ancestors while regular worship and community gathering takes place in smaller chapels and meetinghouses. Businessman J. Willard Marriott, of the hotel chain, was instrumental in guiding construction of the temple in Montgomery County.
The Washington temple is a 160,000 square foot reinforced-concrete structure sheathed in gleaming Alabama white marble. The tallest of its six pointed spires is 280 feet high and topped by an 18-foot-tall statue of the angel Moroni, who the LDS believe will herald the second coming of Jesus Christ. This design pays homage to the flagship Salt Lake Temple in Utah, interpreting its six-spire form in a late-modern idiom. Only Mormons in good standing are allowed to enter the temple, but a visitor center on site welcomes the curious to examine a cutaway scale model.