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Through the Camera Lens
The Dawning of a New Day in Nauvoo, Part 3
by Scot Facer Proctor

Across the street from the temple to the southeast is a small sculpture garden dedicated to the Smith family, with this D.J. Bawden piece of the Prophet Joseph at the center. Joseph is facing the Nauvoo Temple.

Despite our dreams and visions of how Nauvoo looked in those early times (1839-1846) a good portion of the city was graced by homes like this. There were as many as 300 brick structures in those days and the rest were frame homes, log cabins and sundry shelters for the burgeoning population.

I'm always attracted to the 19th century glass as depicted here at the entrance of the Lyon Drug Store in old Nauvoo. Every entrance to restored sites in Nauvoo seems to say, "Welcome! Come on in!"

I think about Lucius and Lucy Scovil in Nauvoo and how their little bakery must have wafted the most scrumptious smells into the air each working morning. I love this little bakery.

For years I photographed and studied the Cultural Hall in Nauvoo trying to conjure up images of the Nauvoo temple. The windows were somewhat similar and part of the structure of this building would just strike a familiar chord in my heart.

I think it's hard to pin me down to committing to my favorite building in Nauvoo (okay, so now it's the temple). But if I go through the thousands of images I have shot over the years of Nauvoo I think I have a leaning for the Seventies Hall. I love this angle because it captures the peace of Nauvoo, the architecture, the setting, and the serenity. The trees in the distance are on the Iowa side of the great river.

I can't go to Nauvoo without visiting the home of Sarah Melissa Granger Kimball. I even love to say her full name each time I talk about her home. The original ideas for the formation of the Relief Society were formed in this little home. This home pre-dates the Nauvoo homes by a few years and stood here to greet the Saints as they arrived in 1839.

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