Facts about the Detroit Michigan Temple

-The Detroit Michigan Temple is the 63rd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

-The Detroit Michigan Temple is the fist temple built in Michigan.

-The Detroit Michigan Temple was dedicated October 23-24, 1999 by President Gordon B. Hinckley.

-The groundbreaking ceremony of the Michigan Temple happened on the same day as the Spokane Washington Temple. This is the first time two temple groundbreaking ceremonies happened on the exact same day!

-The Detroit Michigan Temple is 10,700 square feet.

-Michigan has some pretty cool church history connections. Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of the prophet Joseph Smith, had a brother Colonel Stephen Mack that founded Pontiac Michigan. Colonel Stephen Mack built a turnpike from Detroit to his farm in Pontiac at this own expense. This road is still there and runs in front of the temple, its known as Woodward Avenue.

-The Detroit Michigan Temple is on 6.34 acres.

-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints bought the piece of land the temple sits on in 1956. The land was eight acres. It was bought for a stake center, the stake center was built and many thought the rest of the land should be sold. George Romney, the first stake president in Michigan, and future governor of the state felt that the remaining land should not be sold. Years later the church asked the Stake President for a good location for the temple and this land was the best fit!

-At the ground breaking ceremony the stake President Thomas C. Bithell said ”To the best of my knowledge, nothing has ever been built on this property. It is sacred ground well preserved for this very purpose.

-Because the Detroit Michigan is smaller temple they have minimal staffing. Sometimes the people attending the temple are asked to clean the temple after they are done. For example the youth are asked to wipe down the baptismal font after they finish doing baptisms, help do laundry and make sure everything is left in order. Many of these youth have said how meaningful it was for them to help clean the house of the Lord.

References:

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/detroit-michigan-temple/

”Temples of the new Mellennium” by Chad S. Hawkins