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By Kent Larsen
Reporter Finds That Nauvoo Lives
NAUVOO, ILLINOIS -- Copley News Service reporter Vera Foss Bradshaw took at
tourist's view of Nauvoo, Illinois in an article published in yesterday's
Springfield State Journal-Register and elsewhere. Bradshaw told readers of
the delight of visiting the restored buildings and exhibits of the town,
sometimes called "The Williamsburg of the West."
To Bradshaw, it is the history of the town that gives Nauvoo its relevance,
"It is these Mormons' incredible migration, and the spirit behind it, that
makes Nauvoo extra special and speaks to all of us, regardless of our
religious persuasion," she writes. As a tourist destination she finds the
town alive with its history and even finds the modern Nauvoo appealing, with
its antique shops and quaint stores and buildings. Bradshaw also liked that
the sites have no admission charges and that even the evening entertainment
is free.
In reviewing her tour of the town, Bradshaw commented on several of the
buildings, including the Jonathan Browning home and workshop. Browning,
Bradshaw observes, later invented the repeating rifle, and his son, John
Moses Browning, invented the automatic machine gun and founded the firm that
today bears the family name. While, as Bradshaw mentions, the Browning firm
still exists in Morgan, Utah, it is no longer independent, and is instead
owned by Belgium's Fabrique Nationale.
Bradshaw also visited the Wilford Woodruff home, which she says is
considered the "best example of Federal-Colonial architecture in the
restoration," and the home of Heber C.Kimball, which Bradshaw considers the
loveliest of the restored homes. She also visited the home of Brigham Young
and many other less-known restored homes, and mentions the construction of
the new Nauvoo Temple on the site of the old.
She also visits the Joseph Smith Historic Center, the Mansion House and
other sites owned by the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). And, Bradshaw looks at the
architecture and influence on Nauvoo by the Icarians, the communistic French
group that brought wine making to Nauvoo and the city's annual "Wedding of
the Wine and Cheese" pageant.
Source:
Old Nauvoo
Springfield IL State Journal-Register (Copley) 22Apr01 N1
By Vera Foss Bradshaw: Copley News Service
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