In 1839, Mormons settled in this part of Illinois, which their leader and prophet, Joseph Smith (1805-1844), renamed the Nauvoo, the Hebrew word for “Beautiful Place.” The settlement subsequently grew as a Mormon community of as many as 20,000 residents, and a commensurate building boom, of both residential and commercial structures, took place during the 1840s. One of the preexisting homes in the community, a two-story log cabin, became the residence of Joseph Smith and his family, and a similar homestead is visible in the painting offered here in the upper right corner. Also of iconographical interest is the large building at center, likely representative of Nauvoo House, a boarding house built by Smith in the 1840s to lodge Mormons who came to the area on pilgrimage.