Nauvoo, Illinois

Many, if not all of you, know all about the Mormon faith.  It is not a religion that John or I subscribe to, but the history of Mormonism in the 1840s is what the town of Nauvoo is all about.  Visitor center, both in town and in the historic area provide plenty of information about Mormons, their faith and history.  Behind the Historic Nauvoo Visitor Center we toured a beautiful garden with statues of women at various stages in their life;  involved in activities ranging from courting, child rearing to the pursuit of the arts.

Speaking of the arts, it was interesting to see a closeup of a piece of the old temple in the visitor's center.  In the new temple, at the top, are sun moon and star stones.  They were modeled after the originals by craftsmen.  In the limestone stone pictured below is the sun shining through the clouds with trumpets surrounding it, a depiction of judgment day.

We toured the historic village of Nauvoo which has homes and buildings dating from the 1840s.  Joseph Smith and his followers came to the Indian village of Quashquema in 1839.  They renamed the village Nauvoo (beautiful city).  A successful missionary effort brought in large members from United States, Canada and England.  Nauvoo became one of the largest cities in Illinois.  The church immediately started erecting their temple, as well as other buildings and homes.

Pictured above is the Cultural Hall, which in 1840 was the Masonic Building that headquartered the Nauvoo Legion, police force, and community theater.  Inside we saw a small auditorium with a stage, and on the third floor is a ballroom with original flooring.

Also on our walking tour of the historic area we saw the Browning Home and gun shop.  Browning was the creator of the repeating rifle.

It would have taken John and I at least a good two days to tour this entire historic village.  The tour guides were quite friendly and anxious to share with us tons of information, but we were tired and hot- ready to call it a day.  We did stop to see the Smith homestead (pictured above) and family cemetery on our way out of the village.  Joseph Smith and his brother were assassinated in 1844.  Mainstream America was fearful of the Mormons and their beliefs.  In 1845 more than 200 Mormon farm buildings and homes were burned.  In 1846 many, but not all, of this religious group headed out for the Salt Lake Valley of Utah led by Brigham Young.

A Car Trip Along the Mississippi River

Our goal on this two day road trip was to visit the town of Nauvoo, Illinois.  We took highway 61 north which follows the Mississippi River, and and on that road trip saw the damage left by the river when it overflowed its banks this past spring.  Many small towns in America are struggling to survive because of people leaving rural areas and looking for improved opportunities in the big cities.  Now the overflowing river has increased the problems for the river cities.  We have visited Clarksville, Mo. in the past to watch eagle activity around the river in January.  We always found stores and places to eat on the main street of town, a street located parallel to the river.  In recent months flooding on the river came up to those doors and higher- many of the places are now shuttered and some closed.

Around Quincy, Illinois we were in need of a break to get out and stretch our legs.  We saw signs for a stone bridge and decided to use that for our stop.  The signs directed us into South Park (apparently the second largest park in Quincy) where we found the bridge.  It was a peaceful walk down a woodland trail, along Curtis Creek to the bridge- but yuck, the smell in this area was bad.  We got out of there quickly. John and I explored the park a bit more to get information on the bridge. We found some interpretive signs and learned the the bridge was  built in the 1890s by Quincy architect George Wood.  He also designed the band pavilion in the park.

 

 During most of our drive along the Mississippi we always saw the height of the Mississippi River located up to its banks, except for the area coming into the town of Nauvoo.  Here water lilies were blooming with large swaths growing in shallow areas along the banks of the river.  We got out to view them and detected a faint floral smell which was quite pleasant,  Not sure if it was the flowers or something else we were smelling!

The large Mormon temple overlooks the river in Nauvoo.  The current temple was dedicated in 2002.  The first temple was built under the direction of Joseph Smith in 1841.  Conditions in Nauvoo became unsettled after Joseph and his brother were assassinated in 1844.  The temple was hurriedly dedicated in 1846,  and an arsonist burned that first temple in 1848.  Pictured below is a statue of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum.  More on the town of Navoo in my next posting.