Site and Scene
Volume 4, Number 1
Fall 2002

Historic Kirtland Taking Shape
Karl Ricks Anderson

Aerial photograph showing the final stages of the road relocation project in the Kirtland flats area. The road project was funded in part by the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation in cooperation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The entire Kirtland renovation project is expected to be completed by 2003. Photograph by Karl Ricks Anderson.

The face of Historic Kirtland continues to change. Visitors this summer looked in awe as they followed new directional signs over two new roads and two new bridges to three newly built sites. Visitors park in a large 75-car lot by the new 10,000 square foot Visitors Center. This two-story structure is built to resemble an 1830’s mill.

As visitors enter the new center, they are dwarfed by a billboard-size photograph of Kirtland’s beautiful rolling hills. This large reproduction is an enlargement of a 1903 black and white photograph of Kirtland’s landscape with the Kirtland Temple in the background. Historic photographs throughout give visitors the feel of being in early Kirtland. In the gathering area, just outside the new 120-seat theater, hangs a brightly colored wall size painting by Walter Rane. It depicts Latter-day Saints of all ages working together to construct the Kirtland Temple. The Church commissioned the painting specifically for Kirtland’s Visitor Center. The painting powerfully captures and conveys the spirit of sacrifice and labor that went into settling Kirtland and building the Kirtland Temple.

The newly completed LDS Visitor’s Center in Kirtland, Ohio. The structure is built to resemble an 1830s mill. Photograph by Karl Ricks Anderson.

The historic feel of the visitor center is enhanced as visitors walk out into the historic sites. Only pedestrian traffic is allowed. Curbs and gutters have been removed. The road has been narrowed and made to look old. Two new structures appear at the old intersection. The John Johnson Inn has been rebuilt and the Newel K. and Elizabeth Ann Whitney home has been restored. Located in the heart of the historic area, they complement and blend in with the Newel K. Whitney store which was restored in 1984.

The Whitney home with its wood shingled roof is built to look as it did when it became Joseph and Emma Smith’s first Kirtland residence. Visitors quickly get a feel for the cramped space in which Joseph had to work as he received revelations and conducted Church business there.

Strikingly visible from Kirtland’s main street stands the imposing John Johnson Inn, which was Kirtland’s first brick building. Bricks used in the reconstruction of the inn were specially ordered to match the orange hue and size in the original building. A match was made using bricks found in an archaeological dig in 2001. The inn contains a number of exhibits and a film room. The exhibit which has attracted the greatest attention is a computer kiosk where visitors can search for ancestors. The computerized data base, which took ten years to assemble, identifies each of the nearly 1800 families known to have lived in Kirtland. One can print a biographical summary as well as a map identifying the location of property owned by each.

The recently reconstructed John Johnson Inn in Kirtland, Ohio. Built as a home in 1813 by Peter French, the structure was the first brick building in Kirtland. In 1833, the Church purchased the home from French and during the 1830s the building served a number of purposes, including a printing house, a museum, a stagecoach stop, and an inn managed by John Johnson, an early Ohio convert to Mormonism. The Prophet Joseph Smith gave the first patriarchal blessings here beginning in 1833, and the Quorum of the Twelve took leave on their first missions to the East from this site in May 1835. In 1915, the building was destroyed by fire. Later, a home was built on the foundation of the original home. That home was torn down in 1961. Photograph by Karl Ricks Anderson.

Another popular exhibit is a topographical scale model of 1837 Kirtland which identifies key locations. In addition, a small theater cycles a film on the Church’s welfare program which began in Kirtland. Another exhibit displays books and publications the church printed in Kirtland. One can view valuable artifacts which are secured behind thick glass such as an original Doctrine and Covenants, a second edition Book of Mormon, a facsimile of the 1828 bible used by Joseph Smith in his bible translation, a facsimile of Emma’s hymnbook and other Church periodicals and scripture from Kirtland.

Full development of historic Kirtland will not be completed until 2003 which coincides with Ohio’s bicentennial celebration. Next summer, visitors to Kirtland will also be able to walk to three additional sites. The water-powered sawmill which was used to cut lumber for the Kirtland temple will be rebuilt. The ashery which was part of the United Order in Kirtland will also be reconstructed. It produced potash which was used in soap making and is mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 104. Kirtland’s first schoolhouse will also be rebuilt on its original foundation, just east of the new Visitor Center. The schoolhouse served as Kirtland’s first town hall. Community meetings and elections were held there. Kirtland Saints also met on Sundays in the schoolhouse before the temple was completed.

It is often said that Kirtland is the best kept secret in the Church. As one stands at these beautiful new sites, one can conclude that the cloak of secrecy is gradually being lifted.

Copyright © Mormon Historic Sites Foundation, 2006. All Rights Reserved.