Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial | |
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Location | White River Valley, Sharon, Vermont, United States |
Coordinates | 43°49′26″N72°28′21″W / 43.823783°N 72.47252°W |
Dedication | December 23, 1905 |
Governing body | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial is a granite obelisk on a hill in the White River Valley near Sharon and South Royalton in the U.S. state of Vermont. It marks the spot where Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805. [1] The monument was erected by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which recognizes Smith as its first president and founding prophet. The LDS Church continues to own and operate the site as a tourist attraction.
In 1884, LDS Church leader Junius F. Wells visited Smith's birthplace and conceived a plan to build a monument to him. [3] Under the direction of church president Joseph F. Smith, Wells oversaw the construction of the monument and cottage house in 1905. The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial was dedicated by Joseph F. Smith on the 100th anniversary of Joseph Smith's birth, on December 23, 1905. [2]
By 1907, Wells reported that there had been between seven and eight thousand visitors. [2]
The monument stands 50 feet (15 m) tall and weighs approximately 100 short tons (91 t). The 40-short-ton (36 t) shaft of the obelisk is 38.5 feet (11.7 m) long: one for each year of Smith's life. The obelisk was quarried in Barre, Vermont, and it has been cited as a "remarkable engineering feat" [4] and "one of the largest polished shafts in the world". [5]
An LDS Church visitors' center and meetinghouse are on the same property as the memorial. Admission to the visitors' center and tours of the memorial site are free.
Royalton is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,750 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Royalton, South Royalton, and North Royalton. Vermont Law School, the state's only accredited law school, is located in South Royalton.
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Heber Jeddy Grant was an American religious leader who served as the seventh president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grant worked as a bookkeeper and a cashier, then was called to be an LDS apostle on October 16, 1882, at age 25. After the death of Joseph F. Smith in late 1918, Grant served as LDS Church president until his death.
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. was an American religious leader and writer who served as the tenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1970 until his death in 1972. He was the son of former church president Joseph F. Smith and the great-nephew of Church founder Joseph Smith.
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South Royalton is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Royalton, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. With a population at the 2010 census of 694, South Royalton is the largest community in the town. It is home to the Vermont Law School. The central portion of the village is a historic district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the South Royalton Historic District. The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial is located approximately two miles to the east. South Royalton is the town pictured in the opening credits of the WB television show Gilmore Girls.
Preston Nibley was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and wrote several books on the church, including several pieces of devotional literature.
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Mormon studies is the interdisciplinary academic study of the beliefs, practices, history and culture of individuals and denominations belonging to the Latter Day Saint movement, a religious movement associated with the Book of Mormon, though not all churches and members of the Latter Day Saint movement identify with the terms Mormon or Mormonism. Denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by far the largest, as well as the Community of Christ (CoC) and other smaller groups, include some categorized under the umbrella term Mormon fundamentalism.
The Priesthood Restoration Site, formally known as the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Site, is a historic site located in Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The site comprises property once owned by Joseph Smith, and is the spot where Latter Day Saints believe the resurrected John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic priesthood upon Smith and Oliver Cowdery in 1829.
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The legacy of Joseph Smith includes the immediate aftermath of Smith's killing, among various competing denominations, the status of his family and the church he founded, and a scholarly assessment of his life and religion. Although Smith was killed in 1844, he attracted thousands of devoted followers before his death, and millions in the century that followed. Among Mormons, he is generally regarded as a prophet on par with Moses and Elijah. In a 2015 compilation of the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time, Smithsonian magazine ranked Smith first in the category of religious figures.