page_title: Nauvoo, Illinois
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Nauvoo, Illinois / History
caption_attribution_description: English: "Bird's-eye view from hill, across water to Nauvoo." Engraving of Nauvoo, Illinois, ca 1855
context_page_description: Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 1,149 at the 2010 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its religious significance to members of several groups: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; other groups stemming from the Latter Day Saint movement; and the Icarians. The city and its immediate surrounding area are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Nauvoo Historic District.
context_section_description: The area of Nauvoo was first called Quashquema, named in honor of the Native American chief who headed a Sauk and Fox settlement numbering nearly 500 lodges. By 1827, 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 honor was awarded to a nearby city, Carthage. In 1834 the name Venus was changed to Commerce because the settlers felt the new name better suited their plans.
  In late 1839, arriving Latter Day Saints bought the small town of Commerce and in April 1840 it was renamed Nauvoo by Joseph Smith, who led the Latter Day Saints to Nauvoo to escape conflict with the state government in Missouri. The name Nauvoo is derived from the traditional Hebrew language with an anglicized spelling. The word comes from Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains...” By 1844 "Nauvoo's population had swollen to 12,000, rivaling the size of Chicago” at the time.
  After Joseph Smith's death in 1844, continued violence from surrounding non-Mormons forced most Latter-Day Saints to leave Nauvoo. Most of these followers, led by Brigham Young, emigrated to the Great Salt Lake Valley. In 1849, Icarians moved to the Nauvoo area to implement a utopian socialist commune based on the ideals of French philosopher Étienne Cabet. The colony had over 500 members at its peak, but Cabet's death in 1856 led some members to leave this parent colony. In the early and mid 20th century Nauvoo was primarily a Roman Catholic town, and a plurality of the population today is Methodist or another Christian faith.
caption: Engraving of Nauvoo, ca. 1855
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