page_title: History of Nauvoo, Illinois
section_title: Subsequent history
hierarchical_section_title: History of Nauvoo, Illinois / Nauvoo founded by the Latter Day Saints / Subsequent history
caption_attribution_description: English: Nauvoo engraving
context_page_description: The history of Nauvoo, Illinois, starts with the Sauk and Fox tribes who frequented the area. They called the area "Quashquema", named in honor of the Native American chief who headed a Sauk and Fox settlement numbering nearly 500 lodges. Permanent settlement by non-natives was reportedly begun in 1824 by Captain James White. By 1827 other white settlers had built cabins in the area. By 1829 this area of Hancock County had grown sufficiently so that a post office was needed, and in 1832 the town, now called "Venus", was one of the contenders for the new county seat. However, the nearby city of Carthage was selected instead. In 1834 the name Venus was changed to "Commerce" because the settlers felt that the new name better suited their plans. In late 1839, arriving Mormons bought the small town of Commerce, and in April 1840 it was renamed "Nauvoo" by Joseph Smith, the latter day prophet of the Latter Day Saint movement. Nauvoo grew rapidly and for a few years was one of the most populous cities in Illinois. Within two years of Joseph Smith's death by a mob in 1844, most of the population had departed, fleeing armed violence. Most headed west with the group led by Brigham Young.
context_section_description: Emma Hale Smith, Joseph's widow, continued to live in Nauvoo with her family after the departure of the majority of the Latter Day Saints. In 1860, their son, Joseph Smith III, claimed to receive a revelation to take his place as Prophet/President of a group known as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". He continued to live in Nauvoo, which functioned as headquarters of this church (now known as the Community of Christ) until 1865. In 1866, Smith moved from Nauvoo to Plano, Illinois, where the church's printing house had been established. He personally took over the editorship of the Saint's Herald, and Plano became the headquarters of the church. In his final years, members of the church began to move to Independence, Missouri, which Smith's father had designated as the "center place" of the "City of Zion". Latter Day Saints had wanted to return to this theologically important ground since their expulsion in 1833.
caption: Nauvoo in 1865
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