Inscribed stones are a popular means of identifying buildings, landmarks and gravesites.
In an effort to preserve historic stone markers, and to tell the stories behind the inscriptions, the Museum of Church History and Art is collecting some of these weighty "documents." Several are being installed in the new Church history exhibit, "A Covenant Restored."Among those on exhibit are markers identifying a baptismal font in India; a surveyor's reference point, the pioneer Social Hall, and a ward assembly hall in Utah; and a grave in Mexico.
The smallest of the markers is from an open-air baptismal font north of Hyderabad in south-central India. It reads: "Built by the Saints of Karimnagar Branch of India District, Jan. 1, 1987. Welcome to the Kingdom of God. Pres. D. Jankowski."
"This hand-inscribed marker is a beautiful example of the emerging Church," Marjorie D. Conder, associate curator, said. "It reminds us that in all times and places, the saints have entered the Church through the covenant of baptism."
Only nine inches square, the marker is made of marble and was set into concrete. "It probably would have outlasted the font," Conder said. Replaced now with an anodized aluminum plaque, the marker was donated to the museum with the help of Pres. Robert Houghton of the Singapore Mission to help tell the story of the gospel's spread among the nations of the earth.
Another stone marker, the "Great Salt Lake Base and Meridian" marker, was located from August 1855 to August 1989 outside the southeast corner of Temple Square. Alternate freezing and thawing was causing the pink Utah sandstone to crack and flake away.
"It was judged best to remove the stone to an environment where deterioration would stop," said Donald L. Enders, senior curator of historic sites. It was preserved through the encouragement of Salt Lake City government officials.
David H. Burr, the first U.S. surveyor general for Utah, installed the stone monument as a beginning point for public land surveys. It fixed the point established by Orson Pratt and Henry G. Sherwood on Aug. 2, 1847, when they began the first city survey.
A replacement stone expertly hand-carved of the same local material by Johann "Hans" Huettlinger of Salt Lake City is now in place at the original site.
Another Utah sandstone marker identified the Social Hall, an adobe building erected in 1852 on State Street. The Social Hall was the scene of community dancing, holiday socials, musicals, and plays produced by the Deseret Dramatic Association.
A reconstruction of the hall at Pioneer Trails State Park, near the mouth of Emigration Canyon, includes a replica of this stone in place above the entrance. The Church museum acquired the original marker many years ago and will use it as a part of the story of buildings erected under the Church Public Works program of the 1850s.
Two years ago, as the old Salt Lake Fourth Ward Assembly hall on Second West and Seventh South streets was being demolished, Paul L. Anderson, senior exhibit designer, saw an opportunity to preserve not only the building's sandstone nameplate, but other architectural elements.
Original bricks, doors, mouldings, and decorative ceiling plaster from the 1886 structure are used as an entrance facade to an exhibit on "Public Worship."
"This exhibit helps you step back into history," Anderson said. "The setting gives you a sense of entering an actual meetinghouse, where worship, teaching and cultural activities took place."
Objects in one part of the meetinghouse exhibit serve as reminders of sacred events through life: a blessing gown, a baptismal dress, a sacrament set, and a grave marker.
The headstone is carved with an open Book of Mormon, an image reminding viewers of the gospel's message of everlasting life. Until descendants replaced the gravestone with a new one and offered it to the museum, it marked the burial place of Martine Rasmussen Mortensen in the LDS cemetery at Colonia Diaz, Mexico.
The stone markers in the new exhibit tell stories of faith and pioneering, conversion and community.
All of the exhibited stones have been cleaned and consolidated for preservation. Museum conservators say that although stones such as granite and marble endure, the softer sandstones and limestones used for many inscription stones deteriorate relatively fast. Stonecarvers selected the softer stones because they are easily carved, and for the same reasons they erode when exposed to the weather.
Moving such stones indoors, where they are protected from the elements, halts their destruction.
Otherwise, many historically important stone markers would be destroyed after a century or two. Curiously, even black ink on a rag-content paper will endure much longer than that.