Endowment House

In 1856, William Ward painted the walls of the creation room to represent the Garden of Eden, the first such temple mural.

Brigham Young explained, "We can, at the present time [1873], go into the Endowment House and be baptized for our dead, receive our washings and anointings, etc.

The Endowment House was also used for other purposes, including prayer circles, settings apart, and instructing missionaries before their departure, as well as meetings of the various church leaders, such as the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

In October 1889, Wilford Woodruff, President of the Church, heard that an unauthorized sealing had occurred in the Endowment House.

[3] Two years later, Woodruff issued the 1890 Manifesto, officially ending the Mormon practice of polygamy in the United States.

The Endowment House at Salt Lake City may not have been the only non-temple structure used for administering temple ordinances in Utah.