Joseph Smith Homestead
After escaping from Missouri in April 1839, Joseph Smith moved to the Joseph Smith Homestead, an existing log house on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River at Commerce, Illinois. Here he was reunited with the Saints. They drained the swampy town and renamed it Nauvoo.
The Homestead not only served as a home for Joseph and Emma, it also served as headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The home is where the Lord revealed to Joseph that the Saints should build a temple in Nauvoo.
Joseph enlarged the home in 1840 by adding a large room for meals and other gatherings, and at the end of August 1843, the family moved across the street to the newly completed Mansion House.
Sections 124, 125, and 127 of the Doctrine and Covenants were received by revelation at the Homestead.
In 1858, Joseph Smith III returned to this homestead and completed a final addition for his own family.
The present complex includes two section of the home added to the original 16x18 two-story house.[1] The original home is left in log; the additions have been updated to white siding as it was believed white would have been more historically accurate.[2]
The graves of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith are situated in the Smith Family Cemetery immediately west of the Homestead.
The Homestead is owned by the Community of Christ. It is part of the Nauvoo Historic District.
