Nauvoo ( NAW-voo; from the Hebrew: נָאווּ‎, Modern: Navu, Tiberian: Nâwû, ‘they are beautiful’) is a little city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River close Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its religious significance to members of several groups: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS); other groups stemming from the Latter Day Saint movement; and the Icarians. The city and its sharp surrounding area are listed upon the National Register of Historic Places as the Nauvoo Historic District.

The Place of Nauvoo was first called Quashquema, named in praise of the Native American chief who headed a Sauk and Fox deal numbering nearly 500 lodges. By 1827, white settlers had built cabins in the area. By 1829 this area of Hancock County had grown sufficiently consequently that a proclaim office was needed and in 1832 the town, by then called Venus, was one of the contenders for the extra county’s seat. However, the tribute was awarded to a genial city, Carthage. In 1834 the publish Venus was distorted to Commerce because the settlers felt the additional name better suited their plans.

In late 1839, arriving Latter Day Saints bought the small town and in April 1840 it was renamed Nauvoo by Joseph Smith, who led the Latter Day Saints to Nauvoo to leave suddenly conflict gone the state running in Missouri. The proclaim Nauvoo is derived from the customary Hebrew language bearing in mind an anglicized spelling. The word comes from Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains…” By 1844 “Nauvoo’s population had swollen to 12,000, rivaling the size of Chicago” at the time.

After Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, continued invective from surrounding non-LDS members annoyed most Latter-Day Saints to leave Nauvoo. Most of these followers, led by Brigham Young, emigrated to the Great Salt Lake Valley. In 1849, Icarians moved to the Nauvoo area to embrace a utopian socialist commune based on the ideals of French philosopher Étienne Cabet. The colony had nearly 500 members at its peak, but Cabet’s death in 1856 led some members to leave this parent colony.