Studying the history of the Church in Nauvoo reveals that it was a place of growth and revelation but also dissension and challenge.
BYU Studies Special Issue on Nauvoo History: BYU Studies, Vol. 32, no. 1-2 (1992). These sixteen articles were presented as a special issue on Nauvoo:
- “Nauvoo—Sunrise and Sunset on the Mississippi,” Gordon B. Hinckley
- “Doctrine and the Temple in Nauvoo,” Larry C. Porter and Milton V. Backman Jr.
- “Introduction to Historic Nauvoo,” Loren C. Dunn
- “The Development of the Joseph Smith Historic Center,” Kenneth E. Stobaugh
- “Nauvoo Stake, Priesthood Quorums, and the Church’s First Wards,” William G. Hartley
- “William W. Phelps’s Service in Nauvoo as Joseph Smith’s Political Clerk,” Bruce A. Van Orden
- “Nauvoo Observed,” William Mulder
- “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841–1845,” Dennis Rowley
- “Conflict in the Countryside: The Mormon Settlement at Macedonia, Illinois,” Susan Sessions Rugh
- “Benjamin Franklin Johnson in Nauvoo: Friend, Confidant, and Defender of the Prophet,” E. Dale LeBaron
- “Crime and Punishment in Mormon Nauvoo, 1839–1846,” Kenneth W. Godfrey
- “From Assassination to Expulsion: Two Years of Distrust, Hostility, and Violence,” Marshall Hamilton
- “The City of Joseph in Focus: The Use and Abuse of Historic Photographs,” Richard N. Holzapfel and T. Jeffrey Cottle
- “Mapping Historic Nauvoo,” MeLínda Evans Jeffress
- “Lucy Mack Smith Speaks to the Nauvoo Saints,” Ronald W. Walker
More resources:
“Nauvoo,” Glen M. Leonard, Encyclopedia of Mormonism
A brief description of how Nauvoo was developed, how it grew, the main events and revelations that happened there, and what life was like for residents.
“Transforming Swampland into Nauvoo, the City Beautiful: A Civil Engineering Perspective,” Kyle M. Rollins, Richard D. Smith, M. Brett Borup, and E. James Nelson, BYU Studies, Vol. 45, no. 3
Mormons began settling in Nauvoo, Illinois, on the banks of the Mississippi River, in 1839. They found the area uninhabitable due to standing water, dense underbrush, and mosquitoes. The Saints successfully drained lowlands and diverted runoff from higher ground, allowing buildings and gardens to be installed. A team of engineering faculty of Brigham Young University studied soil, topography, extant ditches, and historical records to reconstruct the design and methods the Saints used to drain Nauvoo. Their report includes ample maps and graphics to explain how the Mormons were able to transform the swampy land into a beautiful city.
Additional resource:
Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, A People of Promise, Glen M. Leonard
This 800-page book thoroughly covers the Mormon presence in Nauvoo. “The unfolding of temple doctrines to a gathered people during the seven-year Nauvoo period attracts our attention…. The common thread is the Saints’ search for places of refuge where they could unite in a quest for inner spiritual peace. In Nauvoo, they found the peace they were seeking when they entered the House of the Lord,” writes Glen Leonard. “Because of the complex nature of reminiscences, this history draws mostly from documentary evidence from the Nauvoo period.” This book lets the Saints speak for themselves.