St. Paul Minnesota Temple Fun Facts

The St. Paul Minnesota Temple is the 69th dedicated Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

St. Paul Minnesota is the capital city of Minnesota. St. Paul is the second largest city in Minnesota, right after Minneapolis, its neighbor. The two cities form the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The St. Paul Temple is actually in an easter suburb of St. Paul, in Oakdale City on the Mississippi River.

The St. Paul Temple is situated on 7.5 acres of heavily wooded area and it has some marshy spots.

The first Latter-day Saints to settle in Minnesota was in 1847, when a couple was converted in Nauvoo Illinois, and went to visit family in Minnesota and stayed. As more people were converted to The Church they would move from Minnesota to Utah until the brethren asked for people to stay in their area and help grow the church around the world.

The first stake in Minnesota was organized in 1960. Currently in 2024 there are 8 Stakes with over 33,000 members.

The members of the St. Paul area were very welcoming of the new St. Paul Temple. The Oakdale City gave the proposed temple a warm reception. The community offered support to the Church in its efforts to build! Members of the community offered to attend town meetings to speak in support of the temple proposal! The community members said the Stake Center had been well cared for and maintained that they would love a similar building in their area. Not a single known negative comment originated from the neighbors or community during the construction of the temple.

The St. Paul Temple is built on the land where the stake center is built. When finding the land for the Stake Center, Elder Thomas A. Holt, did not feel anything at multiple sites. When Elder Holt came to this piece of land the Spirit bore witness to him of the importance of that piece of property. He encouraged the Church to purchase additional property beyond what was needed for the Stake Center, and now the Temple is built there.

During the dedication of the Stake Center it was said there would one day be a temple built nearby, and the members in attendance remembered that prediction when the temple was announced.

President Hinckley dedicated the St. Paul Minnesota Temple on January 9, 2000.

The St. Paul Temple is 10,700 square feet.

References:

"Temples of the New Millennium" by Chad Hawkins

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/st.-paul-minnesota-temple/