Written by Edward Krigsman
Former Mercer Island meetinghouse, October 2026. Photograph by Edward Krigsman.
When I arrived at the Mercer Island meetinghouse, I was taken aback to see the steeple gone. I wondered whether the building had been sold. I looked up at the roof for a patch where the steeple might have been. Then I noticed three square concrete footings among the moss and fallen leaves at my feet. I could still see the old fasteners. The steeple had stood apart from the building. For a moment I thought of the three crosses on the hill.
The familiar LDS brick monument sign was still there, its lettering gone. Outside, hundreds of chairs stood in stacks.
This field note is part of Of Brick & Steeple, an ongoing photographic study of Latter-day Saint meetinghouses in the Pacific Northwest. The series looks at how a shared architectural language takes shape in different places, how people use these buildings and grounds and what remains when their use changes.
