{"id":2784,"date":"2015-04-16T15:12:30","date_gmt":"2015-04-16T15:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archives.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/?page_id=2784"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:23:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:23:54","slug":"nauvoo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/news-events\/exhibits\/woodblocks\/nauvoo\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas 1956: The Nauvoo Mormon Temple"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Nauvoo, IL<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode sh-grid sh-grid-cols-1 md:sh-grid-cols-12 sh-gap-3\"><br \/>\n<div class=\"shortcode sh-col-span-3 sh-pb-3\"><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/exhibits-rebuilt-november-2023\/woodblocks\/piasa\/\"><strong>Previous Page<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"shortcode sh-col-span-6 sh-pb-3\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/exhibits-rebuilt-november-2023\/woodblocks\/\"><strong>Exhibit Home<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/news-events\/acknowledgements\/\">Acknowledgements<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shortcode sh-col-span-3 sh-pb-3\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/exhibits-rebuilt-november-2023\/woodblocks\/appellate\/\"><strong>Next Page<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3266\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3266\" style=\"width: 232px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2015\/03\/nauvoo-interior-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3266 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2015\/03\/nauvoo-interior-1-232x300.jpg\" alt=\"The card's interior\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2015\/03\/nauvoo-interior-1-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2015\/03\/nauvoo-interior-1.jpg 697w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3266\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The card&#8217;s interior.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10957\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10957\" style=\"width: 232px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2020\/01\/Temple-woodblock-print1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10957\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2020\/01\/Temple-woodblock-print1-232x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Nauvoo Mormon Temple woodblock print\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2020\/01\/Temple-woodblock-print1-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2020\/01\/Temple-woodblock-print1.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10957\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Nauvoo Mormon Temple woodblock print.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe Nauvoo Mormon Temple, the largest and finest building in the West at the time it was built, was destroyed in 1848, the victim of religious intolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and was designed in the Greek Revival style by Mormon architect William Weeks, under the direction of Joseph Smith.<\/p>\n<p>Construction was only half complete when Smith was assassinated in 1844. As mob violence increased during the summer of 1845, Brigham Young encouraged the Latter Day Saints to complete the temple even as they prepared to abandon the city.<\/p>\n<p>Upon dedication, the Nauvoo Temple was in use for less than three months. When church members were forced out of Nauvoo in the winter of 1846, the church attempted to sell the building, finally succeeding in 1848. In early October, 1848, the temple was set on fire by an unknown arsonist. The temple was gutted with only four exterior walls standing. A new temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints opened in Nauvoo in 2002. The Turners\u2019 full research on the Temple is accessible in their <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2023\/11\/Turner-Woodblock-Notes_Nauvoo-Mormon-Temple_Christmas-1956.pdf\">Christmas 1956 note<\/a>, which was enclosed inside the card.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/exhibits-rebuilt-november-2023\/woodblocks\/piasa\/\"><strong>Return to Christmas 1953<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/exhibits-rebuilt-november-2023\/woodblocks\/appellate\/\"><strong>Continue to Christmas 1957<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nauvoo, IL Previous Page Exhibit Home\u00a0|\u00a0Acknowledgements Next Page \u201cThe Nauvoo Mormon Temple, the largest and finest building in the West at the time it was built, was destroyed in 1848, the victim of religious intolerance.\u201d The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":453,"featured_media":0,"parent":2748,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2784","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/453"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2784"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12305,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2784\/revisions\/12305"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}