Dedication of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple
Latter-day Saints in Omaha, Nebraska, and the surrounding areas were notified via a First Presidency letter on June 14, 1999, that a house of the Lord would be built in Florence, a neighborhood of Omaha. The temple was named the Winter Quarters temple because it was to be constructed on land that was once known as Winter Quarters by early pioneers who camped there on their trek west. This historic area — which already included the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery and the Mormon Trail Center — would soon be home to a house of the Lord.
President E. Louis Butler, former president of the Omaha Nebraska Papillon Stake and first president of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple, told Church News at the temple open house that “this temple is on sacred ground. It is a fitting memory to those stalwart, exemplary pioneers, many of whom never made the trip west but found their final resting place on the hill above Florence. Now their resting place is in the shadow of the temple.”
The temple was dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley on April 22, 2001. The first dedicatory session was transmitted to meetinghouses throughout North America for temple-worthy Saints to view, making this one of three temples that featured a broadcast dedication session to an area significantly larger than the temple district, the other two being the Palmyra New York Temple, dedicated April 6, 2000, and the Nauvoo Illinois Temple, dedicated June 27, 2002.
These three dedications were broadcast to larger populations of Church members to help link living Latter-day Saints with early Church pioneers, their sacrifices and the events of the beginning of the Restoration.
Shauna Valentine, multiregion director of public affairs, told Church News at the dedication, "A lot of us really feel that the temple was built on already sacred ground — that it's a way to honor all of those that didn't go any further than this spot as well as those who did go forward from here."
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “As we meet together, we envision the wagons and the boats pulling in from the East and the South, while others were leaving these grounds to make the long march up the Elk Horn, along the waters of the Platte, up the valley of the Sweet Water, over the Continental Divide and finally to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. All of this area, including Council Bluffs across the river and Florence on this side, was once a place of great industry. Here wagons and handcarts were built. Here oxen, cows, and other animals, seeds and plants were gathered together to move to the West. There was, at times, much of levity here. There was also much of sorrow.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple here.
Timeline of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple
A temple for Omaha, Nebraska, was announced by the First Presidency of the Church on June 14, 1999. The groundbreaking ceremony for the house of the Lord was held Nov. 28, 1999.
Approximately 61,000 visitors toured the temple during its open house from March 30 to April 14, 2001. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple on April 22, 2001.
Architecture and Design of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple
The 10,700-square-foot Winter Quarters temple was built adjacent to the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery and across from the Mormon Trail Center. The grounds of the temple cover 1.92 acres and are filled with grass fields, trees and shrubbery.
The interior features two ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms. The furnishings were created in Early Eastlake style, which was prominent in the area during the late 1800s. Floral motifs are found throughout the windows and carpets of the temple, depicting the state flowers of the five eventual states pioneers traveled through as they headed west: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah.