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Autumn
in Palmyra
Autumn colors and lack of
crowds enhance the experience for visitors to some of the LDS Church's
most significant sites where the church was founded in western New
York.
by Laurie Williams Sowby
PALMYRA, N.Y. -- The name "Palmyra" is as well-known to
Latter-day Saints as Nauvoo, and visited perhaps almost as much.
The quaint village, quietly situated on the banks of the Erie Canal
in western New York state, is the place where the prophet Joseph
Smith knelt to pray in a grove of trees on the family farm,
ushering in a new dispensation. Certain places around it hold equal
importance to LDS members. In the fall, Palmyra holds a special
allure, when humidity, heat and crowds are down and visits can be
a nearly solitary experience.
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| "Moroni's
Promise" is inscribed on the pages of a large concrete
book at the foot of Hill Cumorah, which is ablaze with color
in the fall. (Photo by Laurie Williams Sowby) |
Latter-day
Saints hold the area sacred as the place where the 14-year-old boy's
prayer about which church to join was answered by a vision of God
the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, and where a heavenly messenger
named Moroni delivered to Smith an ancient record whose gold leaves
he translated and named the Book of Mormon.
The hill where the record was found -- later named Cumorah -- has
been the site since 1928 of an annual summer pageant depicting events
in the record of ancient inhabitants of the Americas. In
July, more than 100,000 people attend performances and line up to
see nearby LDS sites.
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A monument with a gold-colored statue of Angel Moroni stands
atop Hill Cumorah, the hill where Latter-day Saints believe
the angel delivered an ancient record to Joseph Smith. The
hill is one of several LDS history sites in the Palmyra, N.Y.
area. (Photo by Laurie Williams Sowby) |
Other times of the year, visitors stop to admire the statue of Angel
Moroni on top of the egg-shaped hill, catching a glimpse of the
entire area -- now cloaked in autumn colors of blazing reds and
yellows. (You can hike up the path or take the road around the back
of the hill to the parking lot on top.)
A
new and larger visitors' center at the base of the hill opened in
the summer of 2002 -- just one of several changes being made to
accommodate the growing interest in the area. It features a stained
glass window depicting Angel Moroni delivering the gold plates to
Joseph Smith. The artist, Tom Holdman, earlier created stained glass
windows and a scene of the First Vision for the Palmyra Temple.
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The
frame home of Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, Sr., on the family
farm in Palmyra has been restored to a more authentic 1820s
look. (Photo by Laurie Williams Sowby) |
The Smith Farm about three miles away has seen some changes over
the years as well. A small welcome center, opened in January 2000,
offers maps and free guided tours of the replica log cabin and frame
home a short walk down the unpaved lane. Joseph Smith received several
visits from Moroni in the upstairs bedroom of the small cabin that
was the Smiths' first home in Palmyra. A look out the back door
reveals the vast grove of hardwood trees now dropping their fall-tinted
leaves along its paths.
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Autumn
colors of nearby trees and the Sacred Grove beyond are seen
through the window of the Smiths' frame home. (Photo by Laurie
Williams Sowby) |
The
frame home, defined for years in the 20th century by its large front
porch and second-floor portico, has been restored to its more rustic
and authentic state, as the Smiths would have known it when they
lived there in the 1820s. The interior has likewise been restored
to a more authentic look, and a barn and shed have been rebuilt
on the property.
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Leaves
blanket a quiet, rock-covered clearing in the Sacred Grove.
(Photo by Rob Sowby) |
The
paved road that used to run in front of the frame home now runs
behind it, dividing the home, cabin and Sacred Grove on the west
from the small hill to the east where the Palmyra Temple
stands. The stained glass windows of the temple glow at night, their
designs echoing the trees in the Sacred Grove.
More changes have come in recent years: A stake center has been
constructed opposite the temple site, on Stafford Street; the old
Palmyra chapel on Canandaigua Road is now Palmyra City Hall.
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The
shop in the Grandin Building, where the first 5,000 copies
of the Book of Mormon were printed, is open to visitors on
Palmyra's Main Street. (Photo by Laurie Williams Sowby) |
In
town, the E. B. Grandin Print Shop where the first 5,000 copies
of the Book of Mormon were made in March 1830 still stands at 217
E. Main. Missionary guides at the shop, which has been expanded
into a visitors' center, conduct free tours of the building, including
the third floor press room where the equipment that printed the
first pages can be seen. (You can buy an authentic-
looking copy of the early Book of Mormon -- minus paragraphs or
headings -- at a book shop down the street.)
Just down the block at the intersection of Main and Canandaigua,
the steeples of four different Protestant churches -- Presbyterian,
Episcopal, United Methodist and Baptist, all built in the 1800s
--rise into the sky. They're a reminder of the religious excitement
and division that reigned here when young Joseph went into the grove
in the spring of 1820.
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The
Peter Whitmer Farmhouse, where The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints was organized, is about an hour away
from Palmyra, near Waterloo, N.Y. A visitor's center/chapel
stands nearby. (Photo by Laurie Williams Sowby) |
The
official organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints happened about an hour's drive southwest, in the log home
of Peter Whitmer, whose Fayette farm lies about three miles south
of Waterloo on a country road.
Reconstructed on the original foundation, the farmhouse where the
church was organized on April 6, 1830, was the site of a special
General Conference broadcast as part of the church's
sesquicentennial celebration in 1980.
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About
60 people crowded into the main room of the Peter Whitmer
home when the LDS Church was officially organized on April
6, 1830. (Photo by Laurie Williams Sowby) |
The
place is also significant because Joseph Smith completed translation
of the Book of Mormon in the upstairs room and received 20 sections
of the Doctrine and Covenants here. In the woods not far from the
home, three witnesses were shown the gold plates by the Angel Moroni.
As
with all the LDS sites in the Palmyra area, the visitors center
here is open daily from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., with free tours offered
by missionary guides.
IF YOU GO: Palmyra is an easy, half-hour drive from Rochester, N.Y.,
along Highway 31. You won't find motels in Palmyra, so look for
accommodations in the southeast section of Rochester or the Brighton,
Henrietta or Pittsford areas. (Several national hotel chains are
represented.)
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A
stained glass panel depicting Joseph Smith receiving the gold
plates from Moroni is the focal point of the new visitors'
center at the base of hill Cumorah. (Photo by Laurie Williams
Sowby) |
Maps for self-guided tours of all LDS sites in the area, including
the Peter Whitmer Farm, are available at any visitors' center, as
are free guided tours. For more information on LDS Church
historical sites, log onto www.lds.org.
Consider flying into Buffalo, 70 miles west, for cheaper airfares
and the opportunity to visit Niagara Falls, 20 miles north of Buffalo,
while you're in the area. Also consider flying into
Syracuse, about 90 miles east, as airfares to Rochester are typically
high.
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