NAUVOO

city, Hancock county, western Illinois, U.S. It lies along the Mississippi River, 10 miles (16 km) south-southwest of Fort Madison, Iowa. Nauvoo's significance in Illinois history is especially related to the Mormon era. When the Mormons arrived in 1839, there were already a few buildings in what was called Commerce; renamed Nauvoo by their leader Joseph Smith, it grew to be a Mormon community of about 20,000. Following the exodus of the Mormons to Utah in 1846 (after the death of Smith and his brother at the hands of a mob at the jail in nearby Carthage), Nauvoo was settled temporarily by the Icarians, a group of socialists, chiefly of French origin. Nauvoo Historic Site includes the Joseph Smith Homestead (1802), the original log hut of the Smith family; the Joseph Smith Mansion House (1843), built as Smith's permanent residence; the Brigham Young Home; and the Nauvoo Historic Society Museum. Wine and blue-cheese making, the milling of whole wheat flour, and tourism are the chief sources of income. There are extensive vineyards and apple orchards in the area. St. Mary's Priory, motherhouse of the Benedictine order of nuns, and St. Mary's Academy, a Roman Catholic boarding school for girls, were established in 1874 in the city. Nauvoo State Park is nearby. Inc. 1841. Pop. (1992 est.) 1,122.