In-your-face gospel riles town

Towering over a Mississippi River bluff, the recently built Mormon temple symbolizes the central role this town played in Mormon history.

And the arrival of two Christian evangelists from the Chicago area, proclaiming an anti-Mormonism message to the world, recalls the troubled history of those early Mormons with neighbors of other faiths.

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Historic Sites Compete for "Wonder" Status

The city of Nauvoo, Ill. may not be very well known outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but that could soon change.

In an effort to boost state tourism, the Illinois Bureau of Tourism has begun an initiative to select what will be officially deemed the Seven Wonders of Illinois from a field of 84 popular tourist attractions. Two popular LDS church historic sites, Historic Nauvoo and Old Carthage Jail, are among the list of candidates nominated to compete for the designation. However, they are both underdogs in a field of many popular tourist destinations.

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Mormon exodus to be commemorated

Events in Nauvoo will commemorate 161 years since Mormon pioneers left Illinois' once–largest city on a historic trek to the Salt Lake Valley.

The commemoration begins Saturday with a re–enactment walk beginning at White and Main streets.

At 9:30 a.m., a flag ceremony and program will be at the corner of Parley and Water Streets near the Mississippi River in Nauvoo. The commemoration will conclude at 7 p.m. with a fireside program at the Joseph Smith Auditorium, 165 N. Wells St.

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Mormon temple a tourism draw for tiny Nauvoo

Chandler Whipple recently logged his third 1,000-mile drive from Salt Lake City to this tiny, out-of-the-way town overlooking the Mississippi River, where history and faith have forged one of Illinois' hottest tourism draws.

Fellow Mormons Mark and Holly Gold also made the long drive from Utah to western Illinois recently to revisit ground they consider sacred, built by church founders who were chased west more than a century-and-a-half ago amid waves of violence.

"People see so many Utah plates here they probably think everyone from out there has to make a pilgrimage," joked Whipple. "They don't, but a lot do."

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