The New York Store — Visit Nauvoo

The Nauvoo Discovery Program reached out to me to have pictures taken of the Young Single Adult group doing work on uncovering the foundations of the New York Store in Nauvoo. Though I am fairly familiar with most Nauvoo history, I had never heard of the New York Store and wasn’t even sure I knew where it was located. The group was meeting at the former Lutheran Church at the southeast corner of Wells and Ripley Streets, just a little over a block away from the Nauvoo Temple. Inside the basement work was underway uncovering a stone foundation underneath the church. Pictures were taken of the youth group working on the room. We were able to quickly interview Rachel Clayton, part of the student leadership council for the Nauvoo Discovery Program and the Assistant Director of the Tomb of Joseph Museum who has been involved in the research of the New York Store. Rachel gave a quick insight into the New York Store.

Her interview answered a few questions, but raised more. The remains of the foundation were used for the Lutheran Church, but why? And church offices had been in the New York Store after being moved from the Red Brick Store. But what was the significance of that? To further answer these questions, I sat down with Joseph Johnstun, local Latter-day Saint historian and Director of the Tomb of Joseph Museum, to figure out what the New York Store was and how it came to be underneath the Lutheran Church.

Looking into which parts of the building where added during the initial construction of the Lutheran church building.

The New York Store was opened in July of 1842 by William Holdridge and was then used as a dry goods store by William Allen. Allen advertised that his goods sold for New York prices which then quickly became the name of the store. Today we think of New York prices as being more expensive, but in the 1840s New York prices were considerably cheaper because they didn’t have the shipping costs attached. Transporting goods to the new western territories and states from the more established eastern states was costly and added a mark up to goods. So the New York store with its lower prices was like a modern day Walmart.

Joseph Johnstun looks at the newly uncovered foundation of the New York Store

In August of 1845 the building was purchased by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in November of that year the clerks of the church moved in and set up their offices inside. Where were the church offices before this? While Joseph Smith was alive he was the church and the church offices were located where ever he was. The church clerks, however, needed space to perform their duties. A two story white frame building by the Homestead was used a few times and is where the Nauvoo Charter was written by Joseph Smith and John C. Bennet. That building is no longer standing, but wasn’t actually considered a headquarters of the church. The Red Brick Store had Joseph’s office upstairs and certainly had church business conducted in it. However that was primarily Joseph’s personal office. It isn’t clear from church records where the early clerks of the church were working, but it’s likely that both locations were used, as well as spaces near the Nauvoo House and Temple. The first reference to a church clerk’s office was for the temple clerk and was located “on the temple block.” The exact location of that office is unknown. Parley Pratt’s store was rented for meetings and clerking.

The purchase of the New York Store in 1845 was the first real office complex for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This took the early church from a loosely structured group centered around a charismatic prophet to an organized religion. The minute books of the Council of Fifty were kept in the New York Store, though they met in the Seventies Hall. Meetings of the church were held in various locations around town, but the New York store is where the clerks worked and kept everything running smoothly.

After the Latter-day Saints left for Utah, the New York Store building was sold, and it was purchased by the German Evangelical Lutheran Church for its first meetings in 1851. In 1876 with a growing congregation the Lutheran’s decided they need a larger more suitable structure and razed the building to construct the church building that stands there today. The cornerstone was laid May 14, 1876 and the foundation of the New York Store was used for the new church building. The church building was used by the Lutheran congregation until it was sold in 2022 due to dwindling numbers.

Where does that leave the New York Store and the Lutheran Church building? It was auctioned in 2022 and sold to Darrin Adair. Currently restoration work is being done on the basement area uncovering the original foundations of the New York Store from a remodel that was done in the 1950s. The building is planned to be part of the Nauvoo Discovery Program and will house the offices and become the common area of the new school. The Discovery Program is designed for students taking college classes online to have a place that they can have a college experience while having access to historic sites and projects like the uncovering of the New York Store. The Student Leadership Council of the Nauvoo Discovery Program, including Rachel Clayton, has been instrumental in doing research and the physical work of uncovering the history of the building.

Joseph Johnstun has delved into the research of the store and finding out more information about the significance of the building. “The New York Store was the first official Church Office Building and really established a more organized church.” His research into the building is ongoing. On our trip to the building, it was discovered that the door in the basement was a walnut door from the 1840s with what looks like the original hardware. His most exciting find though is something he is still deciphering. “I was walking out of the furnace room and out of the corner of my eye happened to notice that there were some decorative pilasters on an old cabinet.” Underneath a pile of paint and asphalt shingles was an old wooden cabinet with some intricate moldings. It was pulled out and it looks to be an early piece, possibly used in the New York Store, or as an early altar for the Lutheran church. The piece was painted at some point, but the person who did the painting preserved a walnut veneer inset on the front by flipping it around and painting on the backside. We will probably never be sure what the original use for the cabinet was, but it is being preserved and appreciated now. The new owners want to preserve the history of the entire building from the foundations of the New York Store, to the Lutheran church that stands on top. I am excited to see the progress on the building continue.