The Homestead

This two-story, two-room log block house stood on the original 135 acres purchased from local farmer Hugh White and may date to 1803. Joseph Smith moved here in the spring of 1839 with his wife Emma; sons Joseph III, Frederick Granger Williams, and Alexander; and adopted daughter Julia. With the addition of a large room on the north side of the structure in 1840, this home became for a time the center of community life in Nauvoo. According to Joseph III, his father's home in Nauvoo was generally overrun with visitors, with scarcely a Sunday in ordinary weather when the house and yard were not crowded. In 1858, a two-story addition was added to the west side of the house by Joseph Smith III, and he lived here with his family until 1866. During part of that time, Joseph III served as justice of the peace. While living here he also became president and profit of the Reorganized Church, a position he held from 1860 to 1914.

Nauvoo, Illinois · United States