Quarry Overlook

LOCATION: Broadway Street, Northeast of the Historic Nauvoo Visitors’ Center
HOURS: Always Open

All Sites, Tours, Shows, and Rides at Historic Nauvoo are FREE!
Family Friendly – Wheelchair Accessible

Many of the stones for the original Nauvoo Temple came from this quarry. Although it is now filled with water from the Mississippi River, the great size of the quarry can still be seen from the overlook just a few blocks from the Historic Nauvoo Visitors’ Center.

During the filming of the movie, 'Legacy,' the quarry was drained, looking as it did while it was in use

Once stones had been quarried, some shaping was done there. Then, these stones, weighing as much as two tons, were hauled by wagon up to the temple block where masons would finish them.

For the reconstruction of the modern Nauvoo Temple, stones were quarried from Alabama. This stone was virtually indistinguishable from the stone quarried here. Once the stones were quarried in Alabama, they were shipped to stonemasons in Canada, Idaho, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Utah, who cut and carved them. They were then fitted to frameworks and shipped to Nauvoo, where they were hung on the concrete superstructure of the temple.