In 1839, Joseph Smith, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, visited the nation’s capital with Elias Higbee to seek redress of grievances suffered by Church members in Missouri. In response, United States President Martin Van Buren reportedly said, “Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you.”
Early Church members paid occasional visits to Washington, D.C., as they sought statehood for their newly established communities in the Great Basin. Church leader Reed Smoot was elected to the United States Senate in 1903 and seated in 1907 after a series of hearings that brought publicity to the Church.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the area’s Latter-day Saint missionary work and congregations were revived. Utah had become a state in 1896, and in Washington, D.C., Church members often met for worship in the homes of Utah members of Congress. Growing congregations built meetinghouses such as the Washington Chapel, dedicated in 1933. In 1940, the first stake in Maryland was established around Washington, D.C.
In 1933, a large granite chapel was completed in the area. Future Church president Ezra Taft Benson worked in Washington, D.C., as secretary of agriculture in the Eisenhower administration from 1953 to 1961. In 1974, a temple was completed in Kensington, Maryland. Ambassadors and diplomats visit the temple's annual lighting ceremonies during the Christmas holiday.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, along with 26 other religious leaders from across the nation, visited the Capitol after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and met with U.S. President George W. Bush.