Nauvoo

In 1846 the people of Nauvoo completed the largest building in the state of Illinois, a beautiful white temple of polished limestone on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi river.

Then, almost the entire population of 10,000 abandoned their city, crossed the river to the west, and moved to a new home in the Great Basin desert. The beautiful temple was destroyed by fire and tornado.

In the spring of 2002 we traveled across Missouri to visit Nauvoo and see the recently rebuilt Nauvoo Temple. Our first stop was Far West, on county road D, between US 36 and state highway 121 in Caldwell County, Missouri. These markers memorialize the site for a temple that was never built.

Here’s the story.

North of Far West, just past the town of Gallatin, is the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, the place where Adam gathered his righteous posterity to give them his final blessing. Standing here, Sarah could speak quietly and be heard by Carol and Gwen, way at the bottom of the hill.

Richmond, “an obscure village in Missouri”, is the place where Joseph Smith and others were imprisoned, and where Colonel Alexander Doniphan refused to obey a military order to execute them.

Also in Richmond are the graves of some of those who saw and handled the Book of Mormon golden plates, and a monument to the Three Witnesses.

Here at Carthage, Illinois, is the jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed by a mob on 27 June 1844. The jailor had invited them to stay in his own bedroom. Joseph fell from the upper window.

The bullet that hit Hyrum left this hole in the door.

This is the view out the bedroom window.

Today in old Nauvoo, you can see the skills and trades of the 1840’s demonstrated in accurately restored homes and shops.

Before the rebuilt temple was dedicated on 27 June 2002, it was open for tours. Thousands walked through every day. Here are Gwen and Sarah beginning our tour.

The new temple looks exactly as it did in 1846..

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