By 1848, just two years after the Mormon exodus, German immigrants (especially) began moving into Nauvoo.

Like the Mormons before them, other people sought their own “paradise on earth” at Nauvoo. The Icarians – a utopian communal society – saw an opportunity to purchase land cheaply in Nauvoo from the fleeing Mormons. In 1849-1850 Icarians migrated up the Mississippi River from their first and failed attempted settlement in Texas along with the French founder of their community, Etienne Cabet. The Icarians hoped to develop a socialist, communal colony along their own ideological lines and without fear of persecution from others. But by 1856 their internal feuding led to the dispersal of that group. When Icaria flourished, there were more than 500 community members in Nauvoo. But by 1856 Icaria started to succumb to internal dissent and various Icarians left to found their own Icarian communities elsewhere.  

Nauvoo became a multicultural town – albeit much smaller – composed of Mormons who had not fled, some Icarians (two of whom started a winery still functioning today), and others.

At the start of the twentieth century Mormons from Utah began to think about their place of origin, Nauvoo. The reason for this revival of interest in Nauvoo is uncertain. But in 1905 nearly one hundred congregants of the Latter Day Saints arrived in Nauvoo for a two-day conference. By then the once glorious temple was long a ruin, destroyed first by a fire in 1848 and then a tornado in 1850. It was rubble and the once prosperous town was house foundations and dilapidation. But the assembly had the idea of bringing Nauvoo back to life.

That goal was further advanced when the Mormons became aware of John D. Rockefeller’s investment in Colonial Williamsburg, starting in 1926, and they could watch the reconstruction and rebirth of that town. A Mormon initiative to rebuild Nauvoo, strongly tinged with their religion’s zeal, led to the purchase of the destroyed temple site in 1937 so as to eventually rebuild the temple as well as the town. A major Mormon leader and author, Bryant S. Hinckley, said in 1938 that Nauvoo should rise again so as to “bring into relief one of the most heroic, dramatic and fascinating pioneer achievements ever enacted upon American soil” (quoted in Susan Eastman Black’s beautifully illustrated monograph, The Nauvoo Temple, Millennial Press, 2002). Indeed, too often the role of the Mormons in American frontier history gets lost in the Mormon religion story. Nauvoo is an important part of the history of the United States.

In 1966 excavations began in Nauvoo to recover and restore the original Mormon settlement, leading to the emergence of the academic field of historical archaeology in the United States. Non-Mormon archaeologists realized that Nauvoo needed to be interpreted as a frontier town, just as the Mormon community saw it as a religious center.

In 1961 Nauvoo became one of America’s first National Historic Landmark sites, a major designation from the National Park Service. That designation intersected the Mormon’s Latter Day Saints Church acquisition of property in town and the restoration, over time, of many of the homes of the original settlers. Almost immediately Nauvoo became a tourist attraction. 

Today Nauvoo is restored and reconstructed. One sees the town as it is believed to have been when Joseph Smith and the early Mormons lived there. A new temple (consecrated in 2002) replicates the original one. Understandably, Nauvoo is the epicenter of Mormon pilgrimage. Nauvoo’s Mormon community has created its own comprehensive script in a large visitor center.  

The town of Nauvoo itself is pleasant with many shops, restaurants and B&B’s attending both Mormon and non-Mormon visitors. Its contemporary dual occupation is truly fascinating. 

REFERENCES
Cuerden, Glenn. Image of America. Nauvoo. (Arcadia, 2006) – popular
Esplin, Scott C. Return to the City of Joseph. Modern Mormonism’s Contest for the Soul of Nauvoo. (University of Illinois Press, 2018) – academic
Pykles, Bejamin C. Excavating Nauvoo. The Mormons and the Rise of Historical Archaeology in America. (University of Nebraska Press, 2010) – academic

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