Nauvoo Historical Society Exhibits at two locations: The Weld House on Mulholland, Nauvoo's main street. The Rheinberger Museum, on the Nauvoo "flat" in the Nauvoo state Park. Hours are somewhat restricted so please check www.beautifulnauvoo.com. Also by Appointment: 217-453-6671

Tourist Information Center 877-628-8661
Chamber of Commerce: www.nauvoochamber.org

For listings of businesses, lodging, and tourist attractions, check the Nauvoo web site: www.visitnauvoo.org.

Other Informaton www.nauvoo.net

Mormon Temple Site. The new Temple was completed and dedicated in June, 2002. To see the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Visitors' Center and Historic Site, many reconstructed Mormon buildings, guided tours, and other activities on the "flat": www.lds.org.

Community of Christ (RLDS). Visitors Center, the Joseph Smith Historic Site, The Mansion House and other historic buildings. www.CofChrist.org

Icarian Living History Museum. 217-453-2437 Open by appointment. A very informal collection of Icarian memorabilia, displayed in the barn of Lillian Snyder, a 4th generation ancestor of Icarian Emil J. Baxter. Emil moved to Nauvoo in 1855 to serve as Secretary to Etienne Cabet, just as the French Icarian colony was disintegrating in Nauvoo. He became one of the early grape growers in the area.

Scenic River Road Drive. Be sure to drive the 11-mile, Nauvoo-to Hamilton, Hwy. 96 route, along the east bank of the Mississippi River. The river is a mile wide at this point and the area is beautiful any time of the year.

Navoo's main business district.

Neff Old House Bookstore 217-453-2069
The Allyn House 217-453-2204.
Nauvoo Historical Society 217-453-6671
Community of Christ Visitors Center www.CofChrist.org
Nauvoo Family Inn 217-453-6527
Nauvoo Neighbor 217-453-2249
Nauvoo Christian Visitor's Center
217-453-2372
Latter Day Harvest Bookstore 217-453-2868
Baxter's Vineyards & Winery 217-453-2528
Hancock County Historical Society
217-357-0043 Carthage, Illinois

Art Needlework Shop 217-453-6769.
Baxter's Vineyards & Winery 217-453-2528.
Grandpa John's Cafe 217-453-2310.
Hotel Nauvoo 217-453-2211.
Neff Old House Bookstore 217-453-2069.
Nauvoo Historical Society 217-453-6671.
(The Weld House)
The Mayfly 217-453-6120.
Sonora Gardens Farmstead 217-453-6382.
www.angelfire.com/country/sonoragardens.
A country B & B, 5 miles SE of Nauvoo. 5 miles by car. If you are walking, it is still 5 miles. Hancock County Historical Society
217-357-0043. Carthage, Illinois.

When you stop at the Baxter's Vineyards, to buy pickles, jellies, wines, books, or Carol's Pies and sweet breads, be sure to pick up Robert Thomas' little booklet titled How to Talk Midwestern.
Among the Tips...
DINT: "She told him to get to work, but he dint." PINE EARS: "The pine ears who seddled in the Dakotas were par-ful hardy."
POOSH: To move forward. "It's gonna take all our energy to poosh this car outta that snow drift."

Capt. James White arrives in 1823 and moves onto what is probably the old (1805) Julien site. Along with his son Hugh, and settler John Waggoner, he purchases land in 1824 from the Sauk & Fox Indians...an encampment of about 400 Indian lodges called Quashquame or Jumping Fish (now Nauvoo).

Robert E. Lee, a surveyor for the United States Army, makes two trips to chart the Mississippi for a canal to tame the rapids in the river just below Nauvoo. Fort Des Moines (now Montrose, Iowa) is at the head of the Des Moines Rapids. It is the last fort built in this region, home of the of the former Ioway Indian band.

Land speculator, Isaac Galland, sells the Mormons a bogus 20-thousand-acre tract, at $2 per acre, west of the Mississippi and just above the Des Moines River in the Iowa Territory. It is a part of the Half-Breed Trac set aside by the government for offspring of mixed marriages...very common in the area. In May, the Mormons also purchase, from Dr. Galland, the White and Galland farms across the river at Commerce (Now Nauvoo). These are legit sales.

In March, Etienne Cabet arrives in Nauvoo from New Orleans with 230 French followers. Encouraged by the success of his well-received book on French social-political reform, Voyage to Icarie, Cabet buys 12 acres in Nauvoo which had been vacated by the Mormons three years earlier. He establishes an Icarian socialist-communal colony. His group purchases Temple Square and several surrounding Mormon buildings from Mormon land agents, plus 663 acres of outlying farmland, for their utopian communal experiment. Many in the colony are teachers, artists, engineers, musicians and other professionals.

Many Germans emigrate to the area and Nauvoo soon becomes one of the largest German-speaking settlements in Illinois. This practice is abruptly discontinued when the onset of World War I makes speaking German highly unwise. Other immigrants also settle here to lesser degrees, including English and Irish Catholics...some immigrants come to escape military duty in their own native lands. (See Below)

In September, Nauvoo holds its 1st annual Grape Festival, celebrating the two products for which it soon becomes widely known...its wine and its Nauvoo Blue Cheese.

For a comprehensive 200-year history, refer to GlennView Publication, ZIG-ZAG_TM #1

They were not the military-minded Germans, neither did they have the communistic ideas of the French. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico they came up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, to the very heart of the new country. After three months on a sailboat they were anxious to get settled on land of their own. Hearing of an evacuated city farther north, the small group proceeded to Nauvoo, purchased Mormon property at a bargain, and made this their home.

The German language was used in churches, schools, business houses and homes here for more than 50 years. Nauvoo had its German Catholic church and German parochial school;
its German Evangelical Lutheran church and German parochial school; and there was also a German Methodist church and a German Presbyterian church. On entering these places of worship it was customary for the men to sit to the right of the aisle and the women to the left. Ladies' Aid societies were known as Fruen Verien. A century ago Nauvoo had two choral groups--Helvetia, composed of Swiss immigrants, and Germania, made up of German immigrants. Songs included "Zu Lauderbach Hab Ich Mein Stremph Forloren" and "Ach Du Liber Augustine"... Ida Blum

A great debt is owed to Ida Blum (Mrs. C. J. Blum) who was a lifelong Nauvoo citizen (1889-1980). She was very interested in the history of Nauvoo and for many years wrote articles about the area in the "good ole days". Ida was the wife of Carl Blum, one of the three original owners of Nauvoo's 3-B Store, a landmark dry goods and grocery store located on Nauvoo's main street. The building now houses the Olde Nauvoo Antique Mall.