{"nrhp_refnum":"66000321","name":"Nauvoo Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Nauvoo and its environs","address_restricted":false,"city":"Nauvoo","county":"Hancock County","state":"IL","lat":40.55751340300006,"lon":-91.37212332633824,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1961-01-20","areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large historic district covering the city of Nauvoo on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Hancock County, Illinois, about 3,850 acres in extent. It was developed by Mormon settlers from 1839 to 1846 on the site of the earlier town of Commerce.","why_significant":"Nauvoo was the principal city and church headquarters of the Mormons from 1839 to 1846. It grew within a few years to an estimated 12,000 people, for a time the largest city in Illinois. Surviving homes and public buildings, along with excavated sites such as the temple, document this period. The later Icarian communal colony adds a second layer of history.","narrative":"Nauvoo lies on a bend of the Mississippi River in Hancock County, Illinois. Mormon settlers bought land around the small town of Commerce in 1839 and renamed it Nauvoo. Within a few years the city reached an estimated 12,000 residents and was for a time the largest in Illinois. It served as church headquarters until the Mormons left in 1846. Surviving buildings include the Mansion House, Nauvoo House, the Joseph Smith Homestead, the Masonic Temple and several homes of church leaders, most of them plain brick houses of two or two and a half stories. The temple, burned in 1848 and later toppled by a tornado, was located through archaeological digs in the 1960s. After 1846 a French communal group, the Icarians, occupied the town and introduced wine and cheese making. Restoration groups have since worked to return parts of the town to its appearance around 1846.","period_of_significance":"1839-1846 (Morman Occupation)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival (Mansion House); most Mormon houses are simple rectangular brick buildings","criteria":[],"status_note":"Mixed public and private ownership; condition marked good and occupied. Restoration, excavation and reconstruction programs were under way at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.104296-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/8916/28891600/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/66000321_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000321/1d54634843-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000321/1d54634843-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jack E. Boucher, photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Smith_House,_Nauvoo_(Hancock_County,_Illinois).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jack E. Boucher, photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Smith_House,_Nauvoo_(Hancock_County,_Illinois).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891600","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauvoo_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6981534"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/hancock-county/nauvoo-historic-district-66000321/"}