Nauvoo Temple

Nauvoo Temple: The Original

Original Nauvoo Temple, © 2005 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the small but growing Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the first had been in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1839, the Latter-day Saints were pushed from their homes in Missouri by mobs. They sought refuge in Illinois and were given a charter to build a city on the banks of the Mississippi. The land was a swamp, and the people labored to drain the land and build a city. In 1841, the prophet and leader of the Church, Joseph Smith, announced that a temple should again be built. The command of the Lord is recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants:

But I command you, all ye my saints, to build a house unto me; and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me ... Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials ... for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name. And verily I say unto you, let this ahouse be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people (D