Today’s dedication of the restored Joseph Smith home in Kirtland by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrates this year’s 20th anniversary of Historic Kirtland, the restored village where Smith’s followers settled in the 1830s.
Reservations are needed to visit the small home, which opens to the public on Aug. 29.
Nearly 200 years ago, the village that became Historic Kirtland was headquarters for the newly begun church, established in 1831 when a small group followed Smith here from western New York. By 1838, converts to what was then called the Mormon church numbered 2,000.
A visit to the modest home where Smith lived in Kirtland with his wife, Emma, and their three children gives a human scale to the man who began a church that now has more than 6.7 million followers in the United States alone.
Around the world, today’s Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints numbers 17 million members. More than 50,000 people come each year to visit the church’s roots in Historic Kirtland and travel up the Route 306 hill to see The Kirtland Temple, operated by the Community of Christ, a separate church that shares the same roots.
Home to the Smiths from 1833 to 1868, the house is between the temple and the restored village.
Members of the LDS Church and the Community of Christ believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet through whom Jesus restored His New Testament church. They also believe that God led Smith to translate a sacred record of Christians who lived in the ancient Americas. This record, called the Book of Mormon, includes an account of Jesus Christ visiting the Americas after his resurrection. Many of the revelations central to the church came to Smith when he was living in Kirtland.
The house became the longest place that Joseph and Emma lived together before he was killed in 1844 in Nauvoo, Illinois, where both are buried. The family fled Kirtland on Jan. 12, 1838, because of persecution and threats of violence.
The LDS Church acquired the Smith home property in 2012 and did considerable archaeological and architectural research to learn about the original construction and what had been added later. Work began in 2022 to restore the home to its 1833 configuration by removing a large addition in the back and a porch in front.
“We don’t really know where Emma’s kitchen garden was, but we’ve built one behind the house so people can see it,” said Ben Pykles, in Kirtland from Salt Lake City to give media a preview before the dedication. “Joseph managed the church, worked on the building of the temple and traveled back and forth to another church community in Missouri during the years the family lived here.”
The extensive research done in preparation for the home’s restoration also has failed to discover the location for the outhouse, but it did find part of the original foundation for the home built for Joseph Smith’s parents. It can be seen next door to the restored home.
Inside the house, a replica of the desk where Joseph worked and where Emma compiled the church’s early hymnals has a prominent place in the living room, along with what is believed to be the Smiths’ dining table.
“It belongs to the Lake County Historical Society and is on loan to us,” said Pykles.
Children’s clothing is piled in a laundry basket in the kitchen and hangs as if to dry by the fireplace. Joseph could see when company was coming as he sat at a table in front of windows in the kitchen. Sleeping areas upstairs are off-limits to visitors.
The Smith home was busy, as many came out of curiosity about Joseph’s prophetic claims and about the church he led. The Smiths also welcomed long-term guests — some who paid for the privilege of living there and others who didn’t. The latter group included Joseph’s parents, who lived there for more than a year until their home was built next door.
The village of Historic Kirtland was dedicated in 2003 after the LDS Church spent $15 million to restore it as it existed during the six years the Mormons were here. Today’s Route 615 was relocated, a sawmill and ashery were rebuilt and other buildings, such as an inn and schoolhouse, were restored, as was the Newel K. Whitney store, a visitor center and other village structures.
Joseph and Emma Smith home
Where: West side of Chillicothe Road (Route 306), north of The Kirtland Temple in Kirtland. There are only a few parking places at the home, but shuttles may be available from Historic Kirtland’s Visitor Center.
Tours: Free but reservations are required due to the small size of the home.
Reservations: bit.ly/hk-t.
Info: 440-256-9805.
