In Kirtland, Ohio, visitors can step through the wooden doors of a temple dedicated in 1836.
About 30 miles away, in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, another house of the Lord is preparing for its dedication on August 16, 2026.
About 190 years separate the two buildings. Yet they now stand in the same region, representing two chapters of one continuing story.
The Kirtland Temple marks a beginning—the first house of the Lord built in the Restoration. The Cleveland Ohio Temple represents the continuing expansion of temple worship that began during those early years.
As the Associated Press recently reported, northern Ohio is now home to both the oldest temple in the Latter-day Saint movement and one of the Church’s newest temples.
The First House of the Lord in the Restoration
Early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began constructing the Kirtland Temple in June 1833 during a period of poverty, uncertainty, and rapid growth.
They had limited resources, but they believed they were building a house for the Lord.
Church Historian and Recorder Elder Kyle S. McKay described the building as a symbol of sacrifice, noting that the Saints offered their best despite their difficult circumstances. Some even contributed broken pieces of china to the exterior plaster to give the building a distinctive sheen, according to the Church’s official Cleveland Temple open house report.
Joseph Smith dedicated the temple on March 27, 1836. The dedicatory prayer is now recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 109.
One week later, on April 3, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery reported that Jesus Christ appeared to them inside the temple. They also recorded appearances by Moses, Elias, and Elijah.
For Latter-day Saints, those events remain especially significant because of the priesthood keys they believe were restored there, including authority connected with the gathering of Israel and the sealing of families. The Church’s official Kirtland history timeline provides a detailed account of these events.
The Kirtland period also became a formative chapter in the organization of the young Church. The First Presidency was called there. The Church’s first stake, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the First Quorum of the Seventy were also organized in Kirtland.
The Saints’ time in the area was relatively brief, but the spiritual and organizational legacy of Kirtland endured.
A New Temple Rises Nearby
Nearly two centuries after the dedication in Kirtland, another house of the Lord now stands in the same region.
President Russell M. Nelson announced the Cleveland Ohio Temple in April 2022. Construction began with a groundbreaking in June 2024, and the completed building opened for public tours in June and July 2026.
According to the Church’s official dedication announcement, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside at the dedication on Sunday, August 16. The dedicatory session will be broadcast to congregations throughout the Cleveland Ohio Temple district.
Located in Independence, the temple encompasses 9,950 square feet and stands on approximately 11 acres.
Its design motifs draw on Cleveland’s historic architecture. The white trillium, Ohio’s state wildflower, appears as a central decorative element, while a palette of blue, green, red, coral, and gold reflects both the Lake Erie hillside at sunrise and the colorful buildings along Cleveland’s East 4th Street. These details are described in the Church’s official introduction to the completed temple.
After its dedication, the Cleveland Ohio Temple will become the second dedicated house of the Lord in Ohio, following the Columbus Ohio Temple.
For members in northern Ohio, the difference will be practical as well as symbolic. Until now, many have traveled to Columbus or Pittsburgh to participate in temple ordinances. The new temple will make regular worship significantly more accessible to families in the Cleveland area.
Two Temples With Different Purposes
The Kirtland and Cleveland temples are connected by history and geography, but they now serve different purposes.
The Kirtland Temple is operated as a historic site, allowing visitors to explore its assembly rooms and learn about the experiences of early members of the Church. The Church confirmed that the building would remain open to the public when it announced the resumption of free public tours of the Kirtland Temple.
The Cleveland Ohio Temple, after its dedication, will be used for sacred ordinances such as proxy baptisms and the sealing of couples and families for eternity. Like other operating temples, it will then be open to Church members who meet the requirements for temple worship.
One building allows visitors to look back at the beginnings of restored temple worship.
The other will allow a new generation to participate in that worship today.
The new temple does not replace the old one. Instead, it makes visible how the spiritual work associated with Kirtland has continued and expanded.
Why Kirtland Is Drawing New Attention
Interest in Kirtland has grown since March 5, 2024, when responsibility and ownership of the temple—along with other historic properties, documents, and artifacts—transferred from Community of Christ to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In their official joint statement announcing the transfer, the two churches expressed their shared commitment to preserving the sites and materials for future generations.
According to the Associated Press, more than 53,000 people visited the Kirtland Temple in 2025.
The AP report described visitors arriving as part of multistate Church history tours, while several spoke personally about the spiritual meaning of entering a place connected with events they had studied throughout their lives.
One visitor described the experience simply:
“I felt like I was going home.”
Visitors can stand in the assembly hall where early Saints sang “The Spirit of God” during the temple’s dedication.
They can see the pulpits and rooms used by Joseph Smith and other early Church leaders.
They can also reflect on the sacrifice of a relatively small community that built a temple before the Church had spread far beyond a few American settlements.
Now, those visitors can travel a short distance and see how temple worship has continued 190 years later.
From a Beginning in Kirtland to a Worldwide Work
When the Kirtland Temple was dedicated, the Church was young and geographically concentrated.
Today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has hundreds of temples operating, under construction, or announced throughout the world. At the time of the Cleveland open house, the Church reported 385 temples in those combined categories.
That worldwide growth can make the original building in Kirtland seem small by comparison.
But its importance does not come from its size.
It comes from what began there.
Pace Clarke, the Church’s Ohio historic sites manager, told the Associated Press that Latter-day Saint temples around the world point back in some way to what was first taught in Kirtland.
The relationship is unusually visible in northern Ohio.
In the same region, members and visitors can now encounter both the beginning and the continuation: an early temple built through extraordinary sacrifice and a modern temple built to serve a growing community of believers.
During the Cleveland Temple open house, Elder McKay described Kirtland as representing “a promise and a beginning.” Cleveland, he suggested, can represent a continuation of that hope. His remarks are included in the Church’s official open house coverage.
One temple preserves the memory of Saints who built without living to see the worldwide future that followed.
The other will serve families living inside that future today.
The Kirtland Temple continues to testify of sacrifice, revelation, and beginnings.
The Cleveland Ohio Temple will soon become a place where worshippers make covenants and seek blessings they believe can continue beyond death.
They are separated by 190 years.
But together, they tell one remarkable story: the work that began in Kirtland did not remain there.
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