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Nauvoo__________________________
Driving Directions
Take State Road 96 north from Quincy to Nauvoo. Approximate distance
is 50 miles.
Calendar of Events
Visit Nauvoo Net for Nauvoo information or check out Beautiful Nauvoo for Nauvoo's calendar of events.
History
The town of Nauvoo has a rich
history beginning with the Fox Indians. In 1824, a Fox Indian village, located on what is now Nauvoo, was sold
for 200 sacks of corn. The area was laid out and named Commerce. 
Commerce saw little success until 1839 when Joseph Smith purchased 135 acres of swamp land along a horseshoe bend in the Mississippi River. Smith renamed Commerce as Nauvoo which is Hebrew for "beautiful situation."
More than 5,000 Mormons arrived at Nauvoo in 1839. They drained the swampy land and began building Nauvoo. Mormon missionaries were responsible for bringing several thousand new converts to Nauvoo. By 1842 the population had reached 15,000. Nauvoo had more than 8,000 homes, its own government, schools, and militia and by 1845 it was the largest city in Illinois with more than 20,000 residents.
The Mormons came to Nauvoo in search of religious freedom and experienced it for several years before the persecution
began. After their leader, Joseph Smith, was murdered by an anti-Mormon mob, it was clear that it was time for
the group to head West in search of a new home. Nauvoo was abandoned in 1846 with the majority of Mormons leaving
for Utah under the direction of Brigham 
Young.
After hearing of the Mormon exodus, the French Icarians decided to make Nauvoo the location for their communal experiment. In 1849, the Icarians arrived in Nauvoo. For a few years their utopia prospered. By 1856 a division between groups led to a rebellion. The commune eventually fell apart with the majority moving to Corning, Iowa and a minority settling in St. Louis.
A small group of the French remained and together with the local German and Swiss residents, they resettled
Nauvoo. They began cultivating vineyards and in 1866 Nauvoo had more than 600 acres of vineyards with 40 wine cellars.
Prohibition doomed Nauvoo's wine making but the residents discovered that their 
wine cellars provided favorable conditions for aging
blue cheese.
In the mid 1900's descendants of early Mormon settlers returned to Nauvoo and began restoring Nauvoo and their history. Modern Nauvoo lies on the bluffs above the original town. Both parts of Nauvoo offer an abundance of colorful history with restored homes, renovated businesses, and several visitor centers.