Family Living Center

- Activities & Events -

Location: Behind Cultural Hall

The Family Living Center provides demonstrations about domestic life for visiting school children and families. Many tasks in a frontier community involved all members of the family. Children could be assigned to churn butter, gather stones for candle making, card wool, and more. Apprentices could begin to learn a trade as young as age twelve.

Visitors here can also consider how to load a wagon for the trek west.

Click on the links below to experience a 360° Walk-through, view an Image Gallery, or schedule a Virtual Tour.

Come visit the center anytime the historic sites are open to see demonstrations and learn more about life in Nauvoo. Also, download our Wheat Bread Recipe.

Coming Soon

Image Gallery

Peek inside the Family Living Center as you scroll through our Image Gallery.

Slide 1

Family Living Center

The demonstration center is situated near the Cultural Hall and also near the departure point for the popular wagon rides that take visitors on a short drive through the historic district.

Slide 1

Rope Making

Hemp twine imported from Kentucky was used to make rope in Nauvoo. In the 1840s, there were at least three rope-making companies that twisted many fibers together to make ropes that were essential in shipping, farm work, and construction. Thick ropes were also needed to lift the heavy stone blocks of the Nauvoo Temple.

Slide 1

Rope Making

In this interactive demonstration, visitors see how rope was made by twisting hemp fibers together. Once the rope strands were tightly twisted together into one rope, the end were “whipped” with waxed cotton string and then cut from the machine.

Slide 1

Spinning & Weaving

Thread was made from wool that had been “carded,” or stretched into straight fibers, and then formed into a bat for spinning. An edge of the wool was threaded into the spinner. Then the operator would pump the foot pedal to spin the fibers together onto a spool.

Slide 1

Kitchen Setting

In the 1840s, Nauvoo residents would cook in their fireplace, in a brick oven built next to the fireplace, or on a stove. They used Dutch ovens, cast iron kettles, and a variety of tools such as a long-handled spoon. In this demonstration area, volunteer missionaries demonstrate bread baking and then share the fresh bread with visitors.

Slide 1

Trade Demonstrations

Visitors learn about brick making, pottery, and other aspects of frontier life in Nauvoo.

Slide 1

Candle Making

Candle light was the only source of light before sunrise or after sunset. Families would either make their own or purchase candles. Most could not afford to purchase large quantities, and so they made their own. Learn how they worked together to create this vital daily need.

Slide 1

Weaving

This handwoven rug demonstrates something a family might do with rags or leftover cloth.

Slide 1

Weaving

Many of the immigrants who arrived in Nauvoo came with few possessions, but they had skills as weavers, coopers, carpenters, stone cutters, and more. Weavers could make cloth and rugs, among other things. In this area, missionaries use a loom to make rugs that are used throughout the historic sites.

Slide 1

Coopering

Joseph Smith came from a family of coopers. His grandfather, father, uncle, cousins, and brother Hyrum all knew how to make barrels. This respected profession required an apprenticeship of six to eight years to master. Wooden barrels were an essential part of life, and Nauvoo had at least two barrel manufacturers.

Slide 1

Fill The Wagon

In this activity, visitors try to prepare for the trek westward by filling their wagon with all the supplies they will need.

- Nauvoo Historic Sites -

Wheat Bread Recipe

Now you can make the Wheat Bread Recipe you love right in your own kitchen. Click on the PDF link
or the recipe card.

- Activities & Events -