Ask members about the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, and most might mention places like the Kirtland Temple, the Newel K. Whitney store or the John Johnson Farm.

What few may know is that the Church has identified and re-created a new site of historical significance in Kirtland — the home of Joseph and Emma Smith.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles will preside at the dedication of the restored Smith home in Kirtland on Saturday, Aug. 26.

“This dedication is an indicator of the importance of what took place in the Kirtland, Ohio, era. It was a remarkable revelatory season,” Elder Bednar said. “In my mind, what is most significant is the spiritual impact of what took place in the Kirtland years. This home is where Joseph and Emma lived together and reared their family longer than any other place prior to his death. So, this is a very substantial place and piece of Church history.”

The Smith home will be open for tours starting Tuesday, Aug. 29, and reservations are required. Learn more at historickirtland.eventbrite.com.

Why Kirtland matters to the Church

Speaking at a BYU devotional in 1994, then-Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said “we may yet discover that Kirtland is our most significant Church history site.”

President Ballard, now Acting President of the Twelve, listed several notable events that occurred in and around Kirtland:

• All of the priesthood offices found in the Church today were revealed.
• About one-half of the revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants were revealed, far more than any other location, and the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was printed.
• The School of the Prophets started as part of an educational period for Latter-day Saint leaders.

A view of the upstairs room in the Newel K. Whitney store where School of the Prophets was held in Kirtland, Ohio.

Tom Smart, Deseret News

• Joseph Smith Jr. made his Bible translation and largely translated the Pearl of Great Price.
• More heavenly manifestations occurred there than any other place. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared or were seen in vision four times, and the Savior was seen at least six more times by Joseph Smith, President Ballard said at BYU.
• The Church’s first temple was built and heavenly messengers restored significant keys. President Ballard said the Kirtland Temple is the site of “some of the greatest spiritual events of this, the dispensation of the fulness of times” as the heavens opened to hundreds of early Saints.

“Kirtland is truly a holy ground of this dispensation,” President Ballard said. “The Church basks in the light of revelation today to a great extent because of the great pentecostal outpouring that Joseph and the Saints received in Kirtland.”

The Kirtland Ohio Temple on Saturday, June 2, 2023.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

When Joseph and Emma lived in the home

The main body of the Church moved to Kirtland in 1831, gathering with a group of new converts in the area. Kirtland served as Church headquarters for the next seven years.

Joseph and Emma Smith arrived in Kirtland in February 1831. They lived in four different places from that time until late 1833, when they moved into the home that has now been restored, according to the Church History Department.

The re-created Joseph and Emma Smlth home in Kirtland Ohio on Friday, June 2, 2023.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

The Smith family lived in the home until Jan. 12, 1838, when they fled the city because of persecution and threats of violence. The home is where Joseph and Emma lived together and raised their family longer — a little over four years — than any other place prior to his death in 1844.

When they moved into the home, the Smith family included their 2-year-old adopted daughter, Julia Murdock, and their 1-year-old son, Joseph Smith III. Another son, Frederick Granger Williams Smith, was born there in 1836. The home became a place of family unity, hard work and faith in Jesus Christ.

The home was often full of visitors, including strangers who wanted to meet Joseph, extended family and friends that gathered there. The Smiths also welcomed boarders, guests who paid to live there, as well as others who did not. Joseph Smith Jr.’s parents lived there for more than a year until their home was built next door.

What Joseph accomplished in the home

The Smith home also functioned as a place of Church administration, according to the Church History Department.

In the home, Joseph met with other Church leaders; he instructed missionaries; he also oversaw and participated in the work to build the Kirtland Temple.

The couple oversaw significant publications for the Church in their home.

The Joseph and Emma Smith home in Kirtland Ohio on Friday, June 2, 2023. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will dedicate the re-created home on Aug. 26, 2023.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

While Emma completed the compilation of the Church’s first hymnal, Joseph directed the publication of the second edition of the Book of Mormon and the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. He also began his inspired translation of the teachings of the prophet Abraham.

Some of the revelations Joseph received in Kirtland came in the home, including a portion of the preparation of what is now Doctrine and Covenants 109, the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple.

The Prophet marched to Missouri and back as the leader of Zion’s Camp while his family lived in the home.

“This is when Joseph and Emma have a young family and children. Think about being that young, married, having children, the persecution, the responsibility,” Elder Bednar said. “Think of being that age, in that place, in that era, and all of the things that came through the Prophet Joseph Smith. If you have the opportunity to go there and you get some idea of where they lived, and what it was like, I think that heightens our appreciation of how the Lord magnified Joseph Smith as the prophet of the Restoration.”

The Kirtland Ohio Temple on Friday, June 2, 2023.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Re-creating the Smith home

The home is located on the west side of Chillicothe Road, immediately north of the Kirtland Temple and the historic Kirtland North Cemetery.

The Church acquired the Smith property in 2012 and conducted extensive archeological and architectural research to determine which parts of the structure are original to the home and which parts were added later.

Construction to return the structure to its original appearance began in May 2022.

An interior view of the re-created Joseph and Emma Smlth home in Kirtland Ohio on Friday, June 2, 2023.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

During construction, all post-1833 materials were carefully removed from the two-story structure so it could be returned to its original 1.5-story frame. A large rear wing was removed and replaced by a smaller rear wing. The front porch, which was added after the Smith family lived there, was also removed. 

The site includes two parcels — one to the south, which is occupied by the Smith home, and one to the north, which was home to the Prophet’s parents, Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. The elder Smiths’ home is no longer there but is identified with a historical marker.

Historic Kirtland

The restored Smith home joins six other historic structures already restored or reconstructed by the Church as part of the Historic Kirtland village:

• The Newel K. Whitney store.

The Newel K. Whitney & Co. Store in Kirtland, Ohio, is shown in 2006.

Kenneth Mays

• A sawmill.
• An ashery,
• A schoolhouse,
• The Johnson Inn.
• The Whitney homestead.

Historic Kirtland, dedicated in 2003, also includes a visitors’ center and offers year-round guided tours.

Joseph Smith Papers completed

The dedication of the Joseph and Emma Smith home comes only a few months following the completion of the Joseph Smith Papers project, a monumental, multi-decade effort to gather and document all surviving papers of Joseph Smith.