A Camera’s View of Kirtland, Ohio
By Scot Facer Proctor

President Ezra Taft Benson used to say that he liked to think of the Whitmer Home in Fayette, New York as the place where the Church was ‘formed’ and Kirtland where the Church was really ‘organized.’ Sixty-five of the revelations canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants were received in the Northern Ohio area (in ten different locations) making this an extremely significant place for the Latter-day Saints to visit.

Kirtland has been sacred to the Latter-day Saints since those early days when the Prophet Joseph walked the streets there. The Kirtland Temple still stands as a monument to the sacrifices of the people in that early period of Church History from 1831-1838. But the Kirtland Temple is not the only thing to see in Kirtland.

Kirtland is fast becoming more than a stopover for the LDS who are taking the American “Holy Land” pilgrimage of Church History sites—it is becoming a destination. Later this summer we will do more photo essays to document all that is going on in this Northern Ohio village and the new reconstructions and restorations that have been done.

Are you planning a trip to Kirtland in the near future? Wondering if it’s worth taking your family there for a visit? Why not take a few minutes and look at some of the places you will want to visit. Come and enjoy a brief tour with these 15 photographs.

The Kirtland Temple is the centerpiece of the history of the Church here. It is owned and operated by The Community of Christ (formerly called the RLDS) Church and is a must-see for your visit. The visitor’s center opens at 9:00 AM and offers tours as needed.

When you come to the entrance of the temple try to remember that cold March 27, 1836 Sabbath day when the Prophet Joseph and hundreds of others came to the very place you will be standing and experienced a ‘Pentecostal outpouring’ of the Spirit of the Lord.

Look closely at the workmanship of the stones. When you go inside be sure and look inside the little door that is opened between floors (as you climb the 33 steps to the second level of the temple) and note the rubble-stone construction of the walls.

It was in the third-level, west-end office of the Prophet Joseph Smith where he saw his brother Alvin in vision on January 21, 1836 (see Section 137 of the Doctrine and Covenants).

No Latter-day Saint will want to miss the wonderful tour of the Newel K. Whitney store, located just a few blocks north of the Kirtland Temple. This was a place of great spiritual manifestations and where 17 of the revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants were received.

In this very room the Prophet Joseph arrived on February 1, 1831. He stretched out his hand to the man behind the counter that day and said in a friendly manner, “Newel K. Whitney, Thou art the man.” That meant “I know you, you’re Newel K. Whitney.” Joseph had seen Newel and his wife Elizabeth in vision while yet living in New York and though they had never met, recognized Brother Whitney the second he saw him.

Newel K. Whitney ran a good store in Kirtland. His partner, A. Sydney Gilbert, would be called to Missouri and open a similar store there. Brother Whitney would later serve as Presiding Bishop of the Church.

The Whitney store was a place of gathering in the early days of the Church and has become a place of gathering 170 years later.

In this southeastern upper room of the Newel K. Whitney store the missionaries assigned here will tell of the wonderful manifestations and revelations that were received in this room.

The table and chairs in this room are on loan to the Church and once belonged to the Prophet Joseph and his wife Emma.

For many who visit here the crowning experience is their time in this room “the school of the Prophets.” Here occurred some of the most powerful manifestations of this dispensation.

Don’t miss taking a look at this home just north of the temple on the other side of the old cemetery. It belonged to the Prophet Joseph (now a private residence) and was the place where the Egyptian Mummies (from whence came the Book of Abraham) were first displayed in Kirtland.

If you get an extra minute take a drive about two miles south of the Kirtland Temple to Chapin State Park. Turn off the main road to the right, then a fast right again and park your car. Walk around the pond (you can’t miss it) on the west side and take the small trail into the woods. Within about 100 feet after the pond you will see the old Stannard Quarry from whence the stone was taken to build the Kirtland Temple. The Prophet Joseph was the foreman in this quarry. He used to say, “Come on brethren, let’s go up to the quarry and work for the Lord.”

No visit to Ohio would be complete without a drive 31 miles to the south to Hiram, Portage County, where you can experience the John Johnson Farm and Home. Recently restored as close to the original building as possible, it is a powerful experience to come here (pick up a map of how to get there at the Newel K. Whitney Visitor’s Center).

In this upper room of the John Johnson Farmhouse sixteen revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants were received. The Bible was translated for the most part in this room and, of course, the great vision of the Three Degrees of Glory was received here on February 16, 1832.