This appears to be a reference to seating for a choir. According to music scholar Michael Hicks, these plans reveal that JS had planned “to have a formal choir,” and a choir was in fact organized for the Kirtland temple’s dedication in 1836. (Hicks, Mormonism and Music, 39–40; Revelation, July 1830–C [D&C 25:11–12].)

Hicks, Michael. Mormonism and Music: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.

See Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:18–27]; and Plat of the City of Zion, ca. Early June–25 June 1833.

TEXT: Possibly “done”.

See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 72 [2 Nephi 5:16].

In an era when many structures were built of wood, the temples, like the private residences in the city of Zion, were to be built of brick or stone. (Plat of the City of Zion, ca. Early June–25 June 1833.)

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined a “light” as “a pane of glass; as a window with twelve lights.” The size seven by nine was standard for glass windows. (“Light,” in American Dictionary; Hazlett, History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire, 679.)

An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

Hazlett, Charles A. History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire, and Respective Citizens. Chicago: Richmond Arnold, 1915.

A lintel is a load-bearing or decorative architectural element often found over doors and windows.

Aside from the building’s dimensions, the only stylistic elements specified for the exterior of the temple are “gothick tops” on the windows and doors. Gothic doors and windows typically had rounded tops that came to a point at the apex. Gothic windows were a typical “cultural symbol for a church” in the United States and Canada in the early nineteenth century. An article in the July 1835 Messenger and Advocate discussed the nearly completed House of the Lord in Kirtland and noted that the house “will be lighted with thirty-two Gothic, three Venitian, ten dormer, one circular and two square gable-windows.” (Robison, First Mormon Temple, 17; [William W. Phelps], “The House of God,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:147.)

Robison, Elwin C. The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1997.

Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

Most contemporary churches had “an upper gallery, or balcony, which was above the sanctuary and supported on columns. Often these balconies were U-shaped, leaving a full double height in the center of the room.” In contrast, the specifications here call for two stories with an assembly hall on each level. (Robison, First Mormon Temple, 19.)

Robison, Elwin C. The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1997.

According to one architectural historian, these specifications “describe the vaults, but neither the scaled drawings nor the height measurements listed in the specifications take them into account. . . . The fourteen-foot stories described here leave no room for the second-floor girders and joists or for the elliptical arch set into the ceiling of the lower floor.” These specifications for the House of the Lord in Jackson County were, therefore, not practical. When the Kirtland temple was built, workers raised the overall height of the building to forty-five feet to reach the eaves of the roof instead of the twenty-eight feet specified for the original Jackson County temple. (Robison, First Mormon Temple, 14–15.)

Robison, Elwin C. The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1997.

Based on the scale used in the drawing, the walls were to be three feet thick.

People of the period tended to use the terms pew and slip synonymously. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined pew as “an inclosed seat in a church. Pews were formerly made square; in modern churches in America they are generally long and narrow, and sometimes called slips.” The definition of slip was “a long seat or narrow pew in churches.” The text here seems to distinguish between a large, immovable pew and a smaller bench or slip that could be easily moved forward or backward. (“Pew,” in American Dictionary, italics in original; “Slip,” in American Dictionary.)

An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

In other words, the benches in the pews could be moved from the back to the front. This arrangement allowed congregants to “face either the Melchizedek or Aaronic pulpits, depending upon who was officiating during the meeting. Most meetings [in the Kirtland temple] were held facing the west or Melchizedek pulpits—an arrangement that would have been far more practical for latecomers, who could then slip in the eastern doors without disturbing the western-facing congregation.” (Robison, First Mormon Temple, 20.)

Robison, Elwin C. The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1997.

According to one architectural historian, “Most contemporary churches had an entry vestibule that led into the main sanctuary. . . . In these church buildings, stairs at the sides of the vestibule led to an upper gallery, or balcony, which was above the sanctuary.” Here, the stairs led to the upper-floor auditorium, which was to be used as a school. (Robison, First Mormon Temple, 19.)

Robison, Elwin C. The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1997.

Venetians are decorative features that make the tops of windows or doors semicircular, similar to gothic-top windows.