Atlanta Georgia Temple  The Atlanta Georgia Temple (formerly the Atlanta Temple) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) was the first temple built by the church in the Southeastern United States and the second temple east of the Mississippi River since 1846. Members of the church consider it a literal "house of God" comparable to the ancient Israelite temple where, as recorded in Bible, God spoke with Samuel. Emphasizing this belief, the building's façade bears the inscription "Holiness to the Lord – The House of the Lord." The announcement to build a temple in Georgia was made by the church's First Presidency in April 1980. A site for the temple was selected on a lot in Fulton County, in the then-unincorporated city of Sandy Springs, between Barfield Road on the east and Glenridge Drive on the west, north of Atlanta. Ground breaking ceremonies were held on March 7, 1981, with church president Spencer W. Kimball presiding. An estimated 10,000 spectators were in attendance. Special guests at the ground breaking included Georgia Governor George Busbee, Georgia Speaker of the House Tom Murphy, Joe Frank Harris, United States Senators Jake Garn and Paula Hawkins, United States Congressman Elliott Levitas, State Senators Nathan Dean, Joe Thompson, Joe Burton, and Wayne Garner, State Representatives Bill Cummings and Doug Vandiford, and Fulton County Commissioner Michael Lomax. In his remarks at the groundbreaking, Busbee commented on the high emphasis Latter-day Saints place on education within the family and the positive impact the temple would have on the state;  I wish more Georgians placed such importance in the moral aspects of this life, for only through a common responsibility for our neighbor’s well-being can we insure that our state will be a better place for our children to live. And we are all taking a big step toward that goal on this beautiful hillside today as we break ground on what will soon be the first Mormon Temple in the entire Southern United States. The building contract was awarded to Cube Construction, Inc. and over the next two years the property was developed to include the temple, an annex (including facilities for grounds keepers), a clothing distribution center, and a small apartment building for missionaries and other out-of-state temple workers. In 1988 the property was further developed to include a meetinghouse (chapel) for regular Sunday worship and other church activities. The Atlanta Temple was the first of seven smaller temples built in the early 1980s. Its dimensions were smaller than previous temples and the original designs did not include a spire.