The Latter Day Saints made preparations to build a temple soon after establishing their headquarters at Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1839.

[4] On April 6, 1841, the temple's cornerstone was laid under the direction of Joseph Smith, the church's founder and president; Sidney Rigdon gave the principal oration.

Like Kirtland, the Nauvoo Temple contained two assembly halls, one on the first floor and one on the second, called the lower and upper courts.

When these parts of the building were completed, they were used for performing ordinances (basement and attic) or for worship services (first floor assembly hall).

The Nauvoo Temple was designed in the Greek Revival style by architect William Weeks, under the direction of Joseph Smith.

[5] His design made use of distinctively Latter Day Saint motifs, including sunstones, moonstones, and starstones.

[6] In this regard, Mace references John's statement in Revelation 12:1 concerning the "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars."

This explains why the starstones are at the top of the temple ("crown of twelve stars"), the sunstones in the middle ("clothed with the sun") and the moonstones at the bottom ("moon under her feet").

After a succession crisis, Brigham Young was sustained as the church's leader by the majority of Latter Day Saints in Nauvoo.

During the winter of 1845–46, the temple began to be used for additional ordinances, including the Nauvoo-era endowment, sealings in marriage, and adoptions.

Most of the Latter Day Saints left Nauvoo, beginning in February 1846, but a small crew remained to finish the temple's first floor, so that it could be formally dedicated.

Finally, the New York Home Missionary Society expressed interest in leasing the building as a school, but around midnight on October 8–9, 1848, the temple was set on fire by an unknown arsonist.

James J. Strang, leader of the Strangite faction of Latter Day Saints, accused Young's agents of setting fire to the temple.

[9] Cabet and his followers began clearing rubble and trying to reconstruct the interior of the temple; however, on May 27, 1850, Nauvoo was struck by a major tornado which toppled one of the walls onto eight stone masons.

[10] One source claimed the storm seemed to "single out the Temple", felling "the walls with a roar that was heard miles away".

By 1857, however, most of Cabet's followers had left Nauvoo and over time many of the original stones for the temple were used in the construction of other buildings throughout Hancock County.

In February 1865, Nauvoo's City Council ordered the final demolition of the last standing portion of the temple—one lone corner of the façade.

Soon afterwards, all evidence of the temple disappeared, except for a hand pump over a well that supplied water to the baptismal font.

[10] Wilford C. Wood then bought the majority of the remainder of the temple square in 1940, 1941, and 1951 and transferred it to Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Like Kirtland, the temple contained two assembly halls, one on the first floor and one on the second, called the lower and upper courts.

The basement of the Nauvoo Temple was used as the baptistry, containing a large baptismal font in the center of the main room.

The staircase landing was made of wood and opened to a short hallway heading east, leading to the basement proper.

They may have held some type of support columns, dividing the font from the entrance to the basement, or they may simply have been a decorative element beneath a vase or something similar.

The font's cap and base were carved molding in an "antique style" and the sides were finished with panel work.

[12] A decision was made to replace the wooden font in 1845, apparently because the water caused a mildew odor, and possibly because the wood had begun to rot.

William Weeks' elevation of the front facade does not show windows at the basement level of the two stairwells, and photographic evidence is inconclusive.

A 41-foot-long (12 m) stone arch ran north and south between the circular stairwells supporting the massive timbers for the tower above.

[12] The floor would have a similar configuration as the Great Hall with a set of double pulpits and pews, but the room was never completed.

Doors were never hung, the plastering was unfinished, and the floorboards were only rough timber, not the tongue and grove finished hardwoods of the other floors.

The tower was divided into three sections, each accessible by a series of stairways leading from the attic to an observation deck at the top.