Welcome to Nauvoo

Nauvoo lies along the Mississippi about 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Burlington Iowa. The area was long inhabited by Sauk and Fox Indians before American settlement. Permanent settlement was begun in 1824 by Captain James White, and the area soon became known as Venus. In 1834 it was renamed Commerce, and two years later the city was laid out, though in 1837 much of the area was abandoned. Nauvoo played an important role in Illinois history during the Mormon era. The Mormons arrived in 1839, and their leader, Joseph Smith, renamed the settlement Nauvoo (a Hebrew word signifying “Beautiful Place”). It subsequently grew as a Mormon community of as many as 20,000 (making it then one of the largest cities in the state).

In 1846, two years after a mob murdered Smith and his brother at the jail in nearby Carthage, Brigham Young led the Mormons on an exodus to Utah. In 1849 the area was settled by Icarians, a group of socialists chiefly of French origin led by Étienne Cabet, who were joined by German and Swiss immigrants. By the mid-1850s there were divisions within the commune, and many Icarians left Nauvoo. From the mid-1860s Nauvoo became a centre for the cultivation of grapes; the local economy was devastated by Prohibition (1919–33). In the 1930s blue-cheese making was introduced and became a chief source of income until the early 21st century. The city’s economy is today based on wine making, agriculture (corn [maize], soybeans, and livestock), and tourism.