Visiting Kirtland...

One of the really cool things about living where we do is we are able to go visit so many of the Church History sights. While my parents were here we went to Kirtland, OH. (about an hour and a half from here) It was so fun to see the buildings and walk were those first members walked. The temple was beautiful, too.

The Newell K Whitney General Store

inside the store

2nd floor of the General Store. This is where Joseph Smith and Emma lived for a year or two. This is their living room area and the place where many revelations were received and recorded.

This is what the scriptures (the bible) looked like from that time.

This is a green area that is down the way from the store. It is on the path to the Saw Mill and the Ashery and next to the river where many of the early members were baptized.

The saw Mill

Inside the saw Mill was a carpentry area where many of the fixtures for the temple were assembled and carved.

 This is the Ashery. The Saints used to bring all the ashes from their home fireplaces. This is the last known remaining ashery in North America

They would gather all the ashes in the barrels and then slowly drip water over them over the course of several days. They would recollect the water, which was now lye water and make soap to use and sell to fund the temple.

 They would also take the ashes and continue to refine it using stove like pots and ovens. Eventually they would get potash which they could sell for about $200 a barrell which is then used to make things like porcelain. The ashery helped fund the massive expense of building the temple.

They had an actual chemist lab in the ashery to check the lye water and ashes to make sure they were ready to use.

This is the Inn.