Qualla: Washington D.C. Temple https://qualla.com/washington-d-c-temple en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:08 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/j/washington-d-c-temple-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Washington D.C. Temple https://qualla.com/washington-d-c-temple Washington D.C. Temple: Introduction https://qualla.com/washington-d-c-temple/ Photo credit Munch10 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sometime in the early 1970s, a Beltway commuter looked at the six gilded spires rising over the trees of Kensington, Maryland, and saw the Emerald City. The Washington D.C. Temple - just completed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 288 feet tall at its central tower, sheathed in white Alabama marble with six spires tipped in twenty-four-carat gold - did, viewed from a certain angle on the Outer Loop heading north, look uncannily like the city Dorothy approached at the end of the yellow brick road. In 1973 or 1974, somebody climbed onto the railroad bridge that crosses the Beltway just south of the temple and spray-painted two words on the concrete: SURRENDER DOROTHY. The graffiti was painted over. It was repainted. The pattern continued for decades. The Washington Post in the 1990s called it the single most famous graffito in the Washington area. The church, the paper noted, reportedly did not love it. By the 2010s the bridge had been repainted with anti-graffiti coatings and the words appeared less often. A generation of Washingtonians still hears Dorothy whisper when they see the spires.

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Image: Munch10 at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/j/washington-d-c-temple-wp/dqcj-washington-d-c-temple-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Washington D.C. Temple: First Temple East of the Mississippi https://qualla.com/washington-d-c-temple/ Photo credit Mardetanha, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Washington temple was the first Latter-day Saints temple built east of the Mississippi River since the original Nauvoo Temple of 1846 - which was destroyed by arson in 1848 after the Saints had been driven from Illinois and made their crossing to the Great Basin. Church presi...

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Image: Mardetanha | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/j/washington-d-c-temple-wp/dqcj-washington-d-c-temple-first-temple-east-of-the-mississippi.mp3 0:06 2 full Washington D.C. Temple: The Race Question https://qualla.com/washington-d-c-temple/ Photo credit This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first., CC BY-SA 3.0. The decision to build the temple in metropolitan Washington was contested inside the church's senior leadership. When David O. McKay presented the plan to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1968, two of the more conservative apostles - Mark E. Petersen and Harold B. Lee, who wo...

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Image: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first. | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/j/washington-d-c-temple-wp/dqcj-washington-d-c-temple-the-race-question.mp3 0:06 3 full Washington D.C. Temple: Marble, Gold, and Stained Glass https://qualla.com/washington-d-c-temple/ Photo credit Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0. The building is reinforced concrete and structural steel, sheathed in white Alabama marble (Sylacauga marble, specifically - the same stone used for the Lincoln Memorial). The six spires are coated in twenty-four-carat gold leaf. The central eastern tower, the tallest, supports a...

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Image: Jeff Kubina | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/j/washington-d-c-temple-wp/dqcj-washington-d-c-temple-marble-gold-and-stained-glass.mp3 0:06 4 full Washington D.C. Temple: The Festival of Lights https://qualla.com/washington-d-c-temple/ Photo credit Joe Ravi (Shutterstock iStock Dreamstime), CC BY-SA 3.0. Since 1978, the temple's visitors center has hosted an annual Festival of Lights running from late November through early January. Millions of small white lights are strung through the grounds. The Washington D.C. Temple Choir performs. A narrated outdoor nativity scene is staged...

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Image: Joe Ravi (Shutterstock iStock Dreamstime) | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/j/washington-d-c-temple-wp/dqcj-washington-d-c-temple-the-festival-of-lights.mp3 0:06 5 full Washington D.C. Temple: Renovation and Reopening https://qualla.com/washington-d-c-temple/ Photo credit Geraldshields11, CC BY-SA 4.0. In February 2017 the church announced that the temple would close in March 2018 for a comprehensive three-year renovation to update mechanical systems, refurbish interior finishes, and commission new artwork. The visitors center remained open throughout. The renovation took longe...

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Image: Geraldshields11 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/j/washington-d-c-temple-wp/dqcj-washington-d-c-temple-renovation-and-reopening.mp3 0:06 6 full