Nauvoo House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nauvoo House |
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|---|---|
The Nauvoo House (at right)
and neighboring Bidaman Stable |
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| General information | |
| Address | 950 South Main Street, Nauvoo IL 62354 |
| Coordinates | 40°32′24″N 91°23′29″W / 40.5401°N 91.3914°W |
| Construction started | 1841 |
| Construction stopped | 1844 |
The Nauvoo House is a famous building in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was planned to be a large boarding house (like a hotel) for travelers. Joseph Smith, who started the Latter Day Saint movement, and his followers began building it in the 1840s. The building was never fully finished as a boarding house. Later, it was changed into a family home and called the Riverside Mansion. Today, people still call it the Nauvoo House. It is part of the Nauvoo Historic District, which is a special place recognized as a National Historic Landmark.
Building the Nauvoo House
In January 1841, Joseph Smith said he received special instructions. These instructions told him to build a house in Nauvoo. It was meant to be "a resting-place for the weary traveler." The instructions also said the building should be named the Nauvoo House. They even explained how to pay for building it.
Four men named George Miller, Lyman Wight, John Snider, and Peter Haws were chosen to manage the project. They formed a group called the Nauvoo House Association on February 23, 1841.
Construction of the Nauvoo House started later in 1841. Joseph Smith placed the original handwritten copy of the Book of Mormon inside the building's cornerstone. A cornerstone is the first stone laid when building something. Work continued until 1844. At that time, workers and money were moved from the Nauvoo House. They were needed to finish the Nauvoo Temple instead.
After Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed in June 1844, their bodies were secretly buried. They were placed in the cellar of the unfinished Nauvoo House. This was done to stop anyone from stealing their bodies. Later, their bodies were moved and buried near their home. Even later, they were moved again to the nearby Smith Family Cemetery.
Becoming the Riverside Mansion
After Joseph Smith's death, his wife, Emma Smith, owned the Nauvoo House. Most of the Latter Day Saints left Nauvoo in the late 1840s. The house was still only partly built at that time. In the 1870s, Emma and her husband Lewis C. Bidamon changed the unfinished building. They made it into a smaller home called the Riverside Mansion. It was also sometimes called the Bidamon House.
Lewis Bidamon took down parts of the original building. He used the materials to build other things, like the nearby Bidamon Stable. During these changes, Lewis Bidamon found the original Book of Mormon manuscript. It had been in the cornerstone. Water had gotten into the stone and badly damaged the manuscript. The Bidamons sometimes gave small pieces of the damaged manuscript to visitors. Emma and Lewis Bidamon lived in the Riverside Mansion from 1871 until they passed away.
Who Owns It Now?
In 1909, a church called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) bought the property. This church is now known as the Community of Christ. The church used the building as a place for groups to stay. It was also a stop on their guided tours of the Joseph Smith Historic Site. This continued until March 2024.
On March 5, 2024, it was announced that the Nauvoo House had been sold. The Community of Christ sold it to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other important historical properties and items, like the Kirtland Temple, were also part of this sale.
