Nauvoo, Illinois: LDS temple city, rise and fall

Building the City of Nauvoo

Nauvoo, Illinois, represents one of the most remarkable and tragic chapters of early Latter-day Saint history. After years of persecution and forced migrations from New York to Ohio to Missouri, the Saints sought a place where they could establish a city and build their religious kingdom with minimal external interference. In 1839, they discovered swampland along the Mississippi River in Illinois, purchased it, and began transforming it into what would become one of the most important cities in antebellum America.

The name Nauvoo comes from Hebrew meaning "beautiful place," reflecting the Saints' vision for what they would create. The location was strategic: on the Mississippi River, allowing for commerce and connection to the broader American economy; in Illinois, a state that initially offered greater religious tolerance than Missouri; and on a bend in the river that created a natural defensive position. The Saints drained swamps, platted streets in a grid pattern reflecting New Jerusalem architectural ideals, and began constructing homes, businesses, and public buildings.

Joseph Smith led the Nauvoo community with absolute authority, functioning as both spiritual leader and mayor. Under his direction, the Saints organized their community hierarchically, established cooperative economic systems, and developed sophisticated religious institutions. The population grew explosively. In 1840, Nauvoo had approximately 200 members; by 1844, it had grown to over 20,000 residents, making it one of the largest cities in Illinois and comparable in size to Chicago. The rapid growth came through missionary work and converts emigrating from across America and from European countries.

The Nauvoo Temple

The Nauvoo Temple stands as the spiritual centerpiece of the city. Construction began in 1841 and the exterior walls were largely completed by 1844. The temple was meant to be the most magnificent religious structure in America and a place where sacred ordinances (rituals) would be performed. The construction required enormous sacrifice from the Saints, who donated labor, materials, and financial resources. Though the temple was never fully completed before the Saints' evacuation, its shells and spires dominated the Nauvoo landscape and remains an architectural landmark.

It was in Nauvoo that Joseph Smith introduced several innovations that would become central to LDS theology and practice. In 1842, he organized the Female Relief Society, an organization for women focused on charitable works and spiritual development, with Emma Smith (Joseph's wife) as the first president. The Relief Society became one of the oldest women's organizations in America and remains a central women's organization in the modern LDS church. More significantly, in the Nauvoo period Joseph Smith introduced and performed temple ordinances, including ceremonies related to marriage, eternal family relationships, and spiritual progression. He sealed couples together for eternity, a concept revolutionary for the time and reflecting his unique theology about the eternal nature of families.

It was also in Nauvoo that Joseph Smith introduced the practice of plural marriage. Beginning in the early 1840s, Joseph began taking additional wives in secret, a practice that shocked and troubled many church members, particularly his first wife Emma. The revelation regarding plural marriage was recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 132, which Joseph dictated (though the text was not widely known until after his death and Brigham Young's leadership). The secrecy surrounding polygamy and its revelation created deep divisions within the community and was a primary source of Joseph Smith's increasing isolation and paranoia.

Tensions and the Death of Joseph Smith

Tensions in Nauvoo escalated in 1844. A group of dissidents, including former counselor William Law, sought to check Joseph's power and make the church leadership more democratic. They organized a printing press and produced the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper that published exposés of Joseph's polygamous relationships and criticized his authoritarian leadership. The first (and only) edition of the Expositor was printed on June 7, 1844. Joseph Smith, acting as mayor and in his capacity as church president, declared the press a public nuisance and ordered it destroyed. Nauvoo city council approved his action, and on June 10, 1844, the press was dismantled and burned.

The destruction of the press inflamed tensions dramatically. Enemies of Joseph Smith used the event as justification for mob action. Warrants were issued for Joseph's arrest on charges of riot. Joseph fled Nauvoo but was apprehended and brought back. He was moved to Carthage Jail, north of Nauvoo, for his safety. Yet on June 27, 1844, a mob of perhaps 150 men, some with blackened faces, stormed the jail. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed. Joseph was 38 years old. The martyrdom shocked and deeply traumatized the Saints but also cemented Joseph in their memory as a prophet martyr, sealed in his testimony by his blood.

The Evacuation and Legacy

After Joseph's death, Brigham Young claimed leadership and continued directing the construction and use of the Nauvoo Temple. The temple was completed enough for its dedication on May 1, 1846, and the Saints performed numerous ordinances there before evacuating in February 1846. The evacuated building was later destroyed—burned in 1848 and eventually dismantled.

The evacuation of Nauvoo in the winter of 1846 marked the end of the Nauvoo era. The Saints, led by Brigham Young, trekked westward across Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming to establish a new home in the Great Basin. Nauvoo became a ghost city, its population depleted and its temple left to eventual ruin.

In the twentieth century, the LDS church reacquired property in Nauvoo and began preserving and reconstructing historic sites. In 1999, a new Nauvoo Temple was dedicated in the same location as the original, and the church operates visitors' centers and historic sites throughout the city. Pilgrims and history enthusiasts visit to walk the same streets the Saints walked and to remember the extraordinary period when Nauvoo was the beating heart of the Latter-day Saint community.