Content preview - You need a premium account to view this content.

Nauvoo (1842)

Donald Q. Cannon

Less than five years after its founding in 1839, Nauvoo had become one of the largest cities in Illinois. By 1842 it had grown sufficiently to warrant the drafting of a detailed map.

Driven out of the state of Missouri, Mormons took up refuge in Quincy, Illinois. As refugees they had struggled with the decision whether to gather in one place or disperse themselves among non-Mormons. Ultimately, they decided to settle in one place. After exploration, consultation with land brokers such as Isaac Galland, and a careful consideration of their options, they chose to settle on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River at a place called Commerce, 53 miles north of Quincy.

The Mormon settlers changed the name of this settlement from Commerce to Nauvoo, a Hebrews word meaning "beautiful place." The horseshoe bend in the Mississippi and the panorama created by the heavily wooded hills certainly made Nauvoo unusually beautiful. By the end of 1839 the Mormons had established a growing community. In October of that year they organized the first stake in Illinois, the Nauvoo Stake.

While Nauvoo was the main settlement of the Mormons in Illinois, it was certainly not the only community founded by the Saints in the Prairie State. In fact, Joseph Smith and his followers established 17 communities in Hancock County besides Nauvoo. The most important Mormon settlements in Hancock County included Ramus (now Webster) and Lima. While there were other settlements, Nauvoo was by far the largest town founded by the Latter-day Saints in Illinois.

Joseph Smith envisioned a city on a grand scale and one that was well planned and orderly. The city of Nauvoo covered the entire floodplain along the Mississippi River as well as a part of the prairie land above the bluffs on the east. Surveyors platted Nauvoo in 1839 with a square grid system. Within the town itself, there were 150 square blocks of four acres each. The streets ran north-south and east-west. With the exception of Main and Water streets, the streets measured 49.5 feet in width. Main Street was 57 feet wide and Water Street 60.