NAUVOO, a town of the United States, North America, state of Illinois, on the left bank of the Mississippi, 52 miles above Quincy, and 220 above St. Louis. It was founded by the Mormons in 1840, and laid out with great regularity on a tract of ground gradually sloping upwards from the river's edge. The principal building was the Mormon temple, a large limestone edifice, containing a stone baptistry
supported by twelve large oxen. This building was burned down in 1848; when the Mormons were forcibly expelled from the state and obliged to emigrate to Utah. A company of French socialists have recently established themselves here. The population while the Mormons occupied the town was from 15,000 to 18,000, but in 1850 it was only 1130.