The intent to build the temple was announced on April 4, 1999, by church president Gordon B. Hinckley during general conference.

[3] Located in the town of Nauvoo, the temple's construction was announced on April 4, 1999, by church president Gordon B.

[3] The structure itself was built in the Greek Revival to replicate the architectural style of the original Nauvoo Temple, using limestone block quarried in Russellville, Alabama.

He also organized a group of church members from the Chicago Illinois Stake, co-led by Ariel S. Williams, to clear and beautify the recently purchased land.

[6] Wood purchased land in 1951 that included a house which was made a visitors' center for the temple site.

[8] Designed by FFKR Architects,[9] the temple's architecture reflects both the cultural heritage of the Nauvoo region and its spiritual significance to the church.

[3] The exterior has a single attached end tower with an angel Moroni statue, along with other elements chosen for their symbolic significance and alignment with temple traditions.

[8] Church leaders and architects carefully worked to replicate the original exterior design of the 19th-century temple, which was damaged by an arson fire in 1848 and by a tornado on May 27, 1850.

[10] Symbolic elements are integrated into the design, providing deeper meaning to the temple's function and aesthetics.

The interior floor plan of the temple is noticeably different from the original structure in which the endowment ceremony assumed its present format.

At the direction of Joseph Smith, the west end of the attic story was divided by cloth partitions into four spaces used to administer the endowment.

[16] The sunstones were characterized by two hands holding trumpets above an image of the sun rising above clouds, while the moonstones featured relief carvings of downward-facing crescent moons.

The star stones consisted of large five-pointed stars, each with an elongated bottom ray[8] Together, these elements represent “the glory of the latter-day church or kingdom, further symbolized by the sun rising through the clouds, with the trumpets heralding the restoration of the gospel and the glory of the latter-day Church of Jesus Christ.”[17] The temple and its surrounding grounds have been a gathering place for community events, including the Nauvoo Pageant and the British Pageant, which are both held every summer in Nauvoo.