Assembly Hall

Thrifty craftspeople built this smaller, Gothic Revival structure in 1877–1882, using granite left over from the temple construction. The truncated spires, reaching as high as 130 feet, once functioned as chimneys. Inside the hall, there’s seating for 1,500 people and a choir of 100.

The Baroque-style organ, installed in 1983, has 3,500 pipes and three manuals; of particular note are the organ’s horizontal pipes, called trumpets. The Salt Lake Stake Congregation once met here; now the building serves as a concert hall and hosts church functions.

North LDS Visitor Center

Wander around on your own or ask the ever-present tour guides for help. Exhibits focus on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and the importance of ancient and modern prophets, including those from the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

An interesting scale model showa Jerusalem as it may have looked at the time of Christ. A spiraling ramp leads to the upper level, where Cristus, an 11-foot replica of a sculpture by Bertel Thorvaldsen, stands in a circular room with a wall mural depicting the universe.

South LDS Visitor Center

Two new exhibits cover the building of the Salt Lake Temple and “Strengthening the Family.” Exhibits on the main level include paintings of prophets and church history, a baptismal font supported by 12 life-size oxen (representing the 12 tribes of Israel) as used in temples, photos of the Salt Lake Temple interior, and a scale model of Solomon’s Temple.

Head downstairs to see replicas of the metal plates inscribed with the Book of Mormon that Mormons believe were revealed to Joseph Smith in 1823. Ancient plates of Old World civilizations and stone boxes from the Americas are exhibited to support the claim that the plates are genuine. LDS literature can be obtained at a desk near the entrance.