The Nauvoo Temple
The Nauvoo Temple today is actually the second one constructed on this site. The original was completed in 1846, but the building as well as the city of Nauvoo, established by the LDS church from 1839-1846, was abandoned, by force, after the murder of the church's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum, June 27, 1846. After being forced out by mobs and the state of Illinois the winter of 1846-47, the LDS members saw their temple and most parts of the town destroyed. In 2002, the second temple, built just like the first one, was completed and dedicated with great fanfare and praise by the church as a whole. The temple is the center of historic Nauvoo, which was rebuilt by the LDS church and a break-off, the Community of Christ, though the LDS church now owns all parts of historic Nauvoo. A Visitors Center (located on Main Street) is available for the public, as well as tours of Historic Nauvoo.
Depiction of the destruction of original temple
Front entrance to current temple
Sunstone from original temple.
Temple at night
Current temple under construction in 2002
Nauvoo Temple today
Nauvoo temple overlooking city, 1847
Ruins of original temple, 1848-49
Depiction of the LDS church fleeing Nauvoo. Mississippi River had frozen over.
Paintiong of the construction of original
Sketch of the original Angel Moroni that topped the original temple
Nauvoo Temple over the Mississippi today
Depiction of Joseph Smith, Hryum, John Taylor and Willard Richards heading to Carthage to await court date for false charges. Last time Joseph and Hyrum saw the partially built temple
Harper's Ferry Illustrated, 1846 drawing of temple
Oldest known photo of temple, 1847
Backstory and Context
The reconstructed temple was dedicated on June 27, 2002, the 156th anniversary of the killing of Mormon leader and prophet Joseph Smith, Jr.
1 Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols., introduction and notes by B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951), 3: 375. 2 Doctrine & Covenants 124:31. 3 E. Cecil McGavin, The Nauvoo Temple, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1962), 104. 4 Doctrine & Covenants 124:26-27. 5 Minutes of Lyma Conference., Times and Seasons, (November 15, 1841), 591. 6 Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols., introduction and notes by B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951), 4: 446, 454. 7 Ibid, 7:254-256. 8 Andrew Jenson, Conference Report, (October 1923), 129 – 130. 9 Ibid, 130. 10 Gordon B. Hinckley, “Thanks to the Lord for His Blessings,” Ensign, (May 1999), 88. “The Burning of the Nauvoo Temple,” Millennial Star, 1895. “President Hinckley and the Nauvoo Temple,” Ensign, July 2002, 24. Joseph Earl Arrington, “Panorama Paintings in the 1840s of the Mormon Temple in Nauvoo,” BYU Studies, 1982. Joseph Earl Arrington, “William Weeks, Architect of the Nauvoo Temple,” BYU Studies, 1979. Lisle G. Brown, “The Sacred Departments for Temple Work in Nauvoo,” BYU Studies, 1979. Don F. Colvin, “Nauvoo Temple,” Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow et al., 1992. Richard O. Cowan, “The Pivotal Temple,” Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: Illinios, ed. H. D. Garrett, 1995. Richard N. Holzapfel and J. B. Holzapfel, Women in Nauvoo, 1992. Stanley B. Kimball, “The Nauvoo Temple,” Improvement Era, 1963. Matthew S. McBride, “The First Nauvoo Temple: So Great a Cause,” Ensign, July 2002, 8. E. Cecil McGavin, Nauvoo the Beautiful, 1946. Ann Whiting Orton, “The Nauvoo Temple: Cornerstones of Faith,” New Era, May 2002, 20. Don L. Searle, “Nauvoo: A Temple Reborn,” Ensign, July 2002, 15.