Welcoming Guests to Old Nauvoo

Blog #65

Kevin V. Hunt

As guests arrive in Nauvoo, they wonder what there is to do in Nauvoo … what should they see, and how do they get started. The best place to begin a Nauvoo experience is to first go to a Visitors’ Center.

I love what is now called the “Historic Nauvoo Visitors’ Center”. This was dedicated in 1971. I arrived on the Nauvoo scene in 1975 and enjoyed the new and wonderful building. It was not then historic, but with the passage of time, it is now.

I was here with 19 other young Elders and about 20 senior couples. The senior couples were all assigned specific homes and they managed and cared for those homes, and gave tour of them to the guests who came. They did not move from restored home to restored home. They spent their entire missions in their initial assigned home.

My wife’s parents, Elder E.H. and Sister Verna Belcher served for 18 months and then received two 6-month extensions. So they spent literally two and a half years just in the tiny Lucy Mack Smith home.

I served my final six months of my mission in Nauvoo. And now Sister Hunt and I have been here as a senior couple for nearly 18 months. Wow! (Where did that time go?)

I have enjoyed telling people that I served here on my “young mission” and this amazes everyone – inclluding me. I tell them that I did then the exact same thing (site guide) as I do now … and that the only difference was that I wear a period costume now and back then I wore a white shirt and tie.

Back in ’75, we served in eight restored homes. These included Wilford Woodruff, Heber C. Kimball, and Lucy Mack Smith homes, the Jonathan Browning home and gun shop, the John Taylor home and Print Shop (then called “The Times and Seasons Building”), the Brigham Young home, the Webb Blacksmith Shop, and the Seventies Hall.

Today we serve in 28 restored homes and shops and we have to know the scripts or presentations for all of those places. We are assigned to six different homes in a given week. (One day a week is our “p-day” – Prepartation Day and we are off for shopping, laundry, and relaxation).

“Back in the day” all of us young missionaries were based in the Visitors’ Center. We had a missionary lounge downstairs with couches and chairs. We had a large library and when not giving tours, we were reading Nauvoo history books and biographies of the early Saints. And of course, we could also take cat-naps and play ping pong. I enjoyed cooking for the other five guys in my “Red Barn” home group.

One or two Elders were stationed for the day at the desk of the Visitors’ Center. and then as people arrived, we would be called up to meet them and to take them on a tour of the center. (Today all of the displays are “self-guided”).

We took guests on a tour of the main floor and told them about the Restoration of the Gospel, The Book of Mormon, Nauvoo during the pioneer era, and the migration west. Then upstairs, we had rooms dedicated to the Temple and the organization of the Relief Society.

Also, we would relieve the couples at noon and later in the afternoon. Pairs of us would go to four different homes about 11:30 AM and would man the house for an hour as the older folks went to lunch. Then as they returned, we would move to a second home for another hour. We then took over the homes at 5:00 PM and the couples would go home. We manned the homes – and the visitors’ center until 8 PM. That would end our very long days.

Visitors’ Centers have been an important part of the Nauvoo community for a hundred years. I have mentioned the 1975 Visitors Center that has now become the “Historic Nauvoo Visitors Center” (That must also mean that I am now “historic”.)

This fall, many of the displays of the “Historic Nauvoo Visitors’ Center will be removed from the walls. We are told that these are being removed to be refurbished and otherwise prepared to be a part of a new “Temple Visitors’ Center” that is being constructed to be specific to the Temple. These displays will be designed to tell the story of the Temple here in Nauvoo and the in the world generally. This new center is being built now and is set to be done early summer of 2026.

Meanwhile, the current Historic Visitors’ Center will take more of a “back seat” and will become the Nauvoo Performing Center. The Nauvoo Performing Missionaries will use the building for a variety of performances. Local community groups will also likely be able to use the facilities for concerts and other performances.

On March 5, 2024 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased the visitors center formerly owned and operated by the Community of Christ church. On June 15th of this 2025 year, the visitors’ center opened as “The South visitors’ Center”. Displays are just being set up there so the place will likely continue to grow as new exhibits are ultimately placed there.

All of these faciities are designed to assist our guests who come to Nauvoo. The various centers are to help people feel at home, to meet nice friends (missionaries), to rest, and to gain infomation about Nauvoo generally and also schedules and tour opportunities. With soon to be three visitors’ centers and a plethora of restored homes and shops, there should be something for everyone.

Missionaries staff each of the centers and they (we) eagerly await your visits – along with all of your guests. We’ll be waiting for you! Come to Nauvoo and experience it for yourself. There is a special spirit present here in Nauvoo People who come here experience and feel it. At the visitors’ centers we can provide maps, interactive games and activities for the children, We have movies, Temple models, restrooms, entertainment, information, and of course helpful missionary staffers available to assist you. We can help you plan and enjoy a wonderful experience here in Nauvoo. We are ready to welcome you here.

Move it up on your “bucket list” and start making your way here to old Nauvoo.

The following pages talk of and display a plethora of historic photos about the many visitors’ center opportunities here in Nauvoo. Enjoy a bot of history here in Nauvoo and plan to come and be welcomed to Nauvoo.