by Ken Lahmers
Editor
The quaint community of Kirtland was turned upside down back in 1990, when law enforcement personnel found the remains of five members of the Avery family in a rundown barn.
For orchestrating the murder of the family, cult leader/self-proclaimed prophet Jeffrey Lundgren died via lethal injection in 2006 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
It's an incident still recalled by many Northeast Ohioans, and will be remembered for many more years. That's unfortunate, because the 6,600-resident town is a charming place.
I spent about three hours in Lake County's Route 306 town on a recent blustery Saturday, and enjoyed learning about the town's humble beginnings and one group's effort in building a major religious denomination.
Several times in the past, I've traveled through the town on my way to Aurora High School athletic events at Lakeland Community College. Never did I take the time to explore.
I took for granted the large three-story stucco structure in the center of town, thinking it was just another church -- but indeed a church with quite a story behind it.
It's called the Kirtland Temple. Built between 1833 and 1836, it was the first big house of God built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its founder, Joseph Smith Jr.
History of the Saints
Smith founded the Church of Christ (later the Latter-day Saints) in 1830 in western New York, and established several "outposts," including in Kirtland. Members followed teachings of the Book of Mormon.
Smith and followers relocated to Kirtland and began erecting the temple in 1833. By 1838, the church boasted 2,000 members, but many of the townsfolk did not get along with them.
The group opened an "anti-bank" -- it could not get an Ohio charter for a regular bank -- but it soon failed. That, and residents' distain for the group, drove most members out of town.
About 100 remained in Kirtland, but most ended up in Missouri, where Smith was imprisoned and killed in 1844 while locked up.
The Latter-day Saints then split into factions, one of the most famous aligning with Brigham Young and winding up in Salt Lake City, where the gigantic Mormon Tabernacle stands.
Another group went to Nauvoo, Ill., and in 1872 formed the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2001, the church took on the name Community of Christ, headquartered in Independence, Mo.
The Community of Christ boasts about 250,000 members worldwide. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to exist, headquartered in Salt Lake City. It has about 13 million members worldwide.
About Kirtland Temple
The Community of Christ maintains ownership of the temple, and offers tours daily during warmer months and on weekends during colder months.
A visitors center was built on the grounds in 2007. Those who tour the temple first are treated to a short film about the history of the denomination.
When the film ends, the curtains behind the screen slowly open, providing a breathtaking side view of the temple through a wide picture window.
The temple rises three stories. The first two levels house similar-looking sanctuaries, each with a series of nine handcarved wooden pulpits at each end.
The pulpits represent two groups of church priesthood leaders. Choir lofts fill the corners, and each pew box has a moveable bench, allowing worshippers to face either end of the rooms.
The third floor is divided into five rooms running perpendicular to the two sanctuaries, with dormer windows at each end. They were used as children's classrooms in the temple's early days, and the back room was Smith's office.
After falling into disrepair a few decades following the temple's abandonment, it has since been renovated and meticulously maintained. Its belfry holds a 1,000-pound bell.
The grounds are beautiful, with trees shading the south side of the building, and the fall colors provide excellent opportunities to frame the temple in photos.
Group tours are available for senior citizen, school and church groups. Classes also are offered, as are community services on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Easter. There is a gift shop in the visitors center.
Take trip back in time
Kirtland has another enjoyable site for history buffs. A pioneer village is situated on the east side of Route 306 north of the temple grounds.
Some of its buildings are originals from the early 1800s which have been restored, while others have been reconstructed to look original.
Visitors can walk with a tour guide, who explains what they're seeing, or browse by themselves. Buildings are a schoolhouse, N.K. Whitney store, Whitney house, Johnson Inn, ashery and sawmill.
The Whitney store and house are original structures. The others are reconstructed. The schoohouse, destroyed by fire in the mid-1800s, was rebuilt in recent years on its original foundation.
Logs up to 16 feet long are sawed in the mill at certain times in warmer weather. The mill contains "historically-correct" tools and machinery made by talented craftsmen.
A large wooden water wheel underneath the sawmill powers the equipment.
The re-created Johnson Inn features kiosks which visually portray the lives of the Kirtland settlers.
The husband of one of my colleagues at Record Publishing Co. headed the crew which built the ashery, said to be the only one restored and still existing in North America.
An ashery produced potash -- or pearl ash -- an essential ingredient used to manufacture glass, soap and gunpowder.
Ashes were collected, purchased or bartered from the settlers, and they became a cash staple of the American frontier.
Visitors also can view a 25-minute film in the information center, which utilizes actors to very professionally tell the story of Kirtland in the early 1800s.
Three other attractions
Kirtland boasts three other highly popular attractions -- Lake Metroparks Farmpark, the Holden Arboretum and Penitentiary Glen Reservation.
I've never visited any of them, but hope to next spring or summer.
The 235-acre farm park features 50 breeds of farm animals and offers cow-milking and other demonstrations, wagon rides and hosts several festivals.
Country Lights, a year-end holidays tradition, is coming up Dec. 4-23.
The 3,500-acre arboretum has display gardens, horticultural collections and nature trails. It's one of the largest in the country, and offers year-round activities.
Penitentiary Glen is 424 acres of forests, fields and wetlands, with 7 1/2 miles of trails. A deep gorge divides the site.
It also is home of the Lakeshore Live Steamers, a miniature -- not model -- train group which offers rides to the public on certain days.
E-mail:
klahmers@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155