| Nauvoo Temple | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destroyed | ||||
 Photograph of the Nauvoo Temple circa 1847 | ||||
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| Dedication | May 1, 1846, by Orson Hyde | |||
| Floor area | 54,000 sq ft (5,000 m2) | |||
| • News & images | ||||
| Church chronology | ||||
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| Additional information | ||||
| Announced | August 1840 | |||
| Groundbreaking | February 18, 1841 | |||
| Designed by | William Weeks | |||
| Location | Nauvoo, Illinois, United States | |||
| Geographic coordinates | 40°33′02″N 91°23′04″W / 40.5505°N 91.3844°W | |||
| Temple design | Greek revival | |||
| Visitors' center | Yes | |||
| Notes | Some sources claim a private dedication on April 30, 1846 by Brigham Young.[1] Abandoned in 1846, destroyed by fire on November 19, 1848, rebuilt in 2002 (see 113) | |||
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The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.[2][3] The church's first temple was completed in Kirtland, Ohio, United States, in 1836. In the winter of 1846, when the main body of the church was forced out of Nauvoo, the church attempted to sell the building, finally succeeding in 1848. The building was damaged by arson and a tornado before being demolished.
In 1937, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reacquired the lot on which the original temple had stood. In 2000, the church began to build a temple on the original site with an exterior that is a replica of the first temple, but whose interior is laid out like a modern Latter-day Saint temple. On June 27, 2002, a date that coincided with the 158th anniversary of the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the temple was dedicated by the LDS Church as the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.
- ^ Nauvoo Temple on ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org
- ^ Manuscript History of the Church, LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book) 1:302–03.
- ^ H. Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters (1994). Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books) p. 160.