Constructing a Temple in the Wild West's Frontier...An Engineering Feat before Its Time.

What is the importance of the St. George Temple Quarry Trail? Pioneer settlers and church leaders of the area wished for a temple to be constructed where sacred vows and covenants could be performed for the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Ground-breaking for the temple commenced on November 9, 1871 and plans were set in motion for the excavation of the basement and foundation post-haste.

However, numerous underground streams posed moisture and drainage problems for the temple builders. Along the north side of the site, a limestone ledge formed the base of the foundation on that side. The other three sides sat under a bog of swamp water. The lava rock in the area was smartly deduced as being "impervious to the alkali soil." Rather than changing the site, Brigham Young, then President of the LDS Church, held a steadfast belief that this was the spot where the temple should be built.

To stabilize the foundation and basement walls, the pioneers decided to acquire the needed lava rock from the ridge above town then crush the quarried boulders into fragments in order to produce a dry foundation for the temple. Load after load, the pioneers began the tedious task of moving tons of basalt volcanic rock from the bluff's side to the marshy temple site. Once 10-15 feet wide to accommodate the wagon teams and horses, the trail is the original track used to haul out the quarried volcanic basalt (lava rock) to the valley floor.

The stone was quarried into slabs averaging 10 feet long, 42 inches wide, 13 inches thick, and 5,500 pounds in weight. At the quarry site, drill marks where the pioneers split the rock are still visible today. To ease the labor-intensive workload, an ingenious method was devised for loading the stone onto the wagons. Men would place the stone on a mounded layer of soil, straddle it with the wagon, secure it to the undercarriage, and then remove the dirt from under the rock. Four instrumental men and their mule teams hauled most of the 17,000 tons of hand-cut volcanic basalt and sandstone used as solid support materials for the temple's structure. The quarry remained active during the early 1870s.

With seldom less than 100 laborers a day at the site, the workers left their homes before daybreak and walked several miles to push through the building of their cherished temple in record time. After an amazingly short five and a half years, the pain-staking effort of the St. George temple stands as a beautiful reminder of the hard work and dedication of the early pioneers.

Quite the picturesque walk, the trail hugs the hillside laden with giant lava-stricken boulders. Broken off from the basalt-capped bluff formed by active local volcanoes, the tale of the hill's history is as old as time. The rocky cap was deposited when a lake of lava intermittently flowed northward over what is now "Black Ridge," approximately 2.3 million to 20,000 years ago. At that time, the bluff was attached to higher ground.

To reach the trail, head west on St. George Boulevard up the airport hill road. On the right-hand side of the road, once cresting the hill, is a park and a street sign for 265 South. Turn right and go west two blocks. The road turns sharply to the right. Trail access can be reached from the south end of Donlee Drive at a large dirt parking area on the right.