Joseph Smith Homestead - Nauvoo, IL
Posted by: 
cldisme
N 40° 32.431 W 091° 23.501
15T E 636199 N 4488995
Joseph Smith's home in Nauvoo, Illinois from 1839 until his death in 1844.
Waymark Code: WMB6V3
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 04/12/2011
Views: 6
As part of the Historic Nauvoo, the homestead of Joseph Smith has been preserved. It is available for guided tours and interpretation by volunteers in period dress for a $3.00 preservation fee. Visitors must start their tour at the
just east of the site. Starting times vary by season.
The interpretive sign reads as follows:
The Homestead
This two-story, two room log block house was located on the 135 acres purchased from local farmer Hugh White and may date to 1803. Joseph Smith moved here in the spring of 1839 with his wife Emma; sons Joseph III, and Frederick Granger Williams, and Alexander; and adopted daughter Julia. With the addition of a large room on the north side of the structure in 1840 this home became, for a time, the center of community life in Nauvoo. According to Joseph III, "Father's home in Nauvoo was generally overrun with visitors. There was scarcely a Sunday in ordinary weather that the house and yard were not crowded - the yard with teams and the house with callers."
In 1858 a two-story addition was added to the west side of the house by Joseph Smith III and he lived here with his family until 1866. Joseph III served as justice of the peace during part of that time. While living here he also became president and profit of the Reorganized Church, a position he held from 1860 to 1914.