Florence Dalley , group tour coordinator for Columbus Travel in Bountiful, said she doesn't currently schedule a stop at the Oakland monument for LDS groups because the area "hasn't been developed," but she always includes a stop in Pennsylvania's Amish country.

Once the church develops a visitors center there, "it would be a definite place we would stop. We usually build our tours around the visitors centers," she said. Many tours begin in Sharon, Vt., where Joseph Smith was born in 1805. That site includes a large monument, visitors center and campground.

Tours then wend their way west, stopping in Palmyra, Kirtland and Nauvoo — all with extensive LDS historical interpretation and visitor attractions.

Palmer Hyde, co-owner of Hyde's Encore Tours and Travel, said he's been taking tours to Harmony for only the past three years, though he's been organizing LDS tours for the past 20 years. "With the statue and (landscaping) improvements there, we feel it's worth it to go. It's out of the way, but it's worth it."

Most of his competitors "don't know where it is," he said, adding most would probably stop there once the church finishes its planned improvements.

Many locals in Oakland have perpetuated folklore about Joseph Smith and his "Gold Bible," according to Debra Adleman, assistant curator of the Susquehanna County Historical Society. Other local tales relate to purported attempts to "walk on water" and "digging for Spanish treasure," she said, adding Smith is "not highly regarded" by some in the area.

Yet many in the area's business community have been discussing the project's potential to bring tourist dollars to a rural region that doesn't get a lot of visitors. During a meeting to discuss the potential impact, the Susquehanna County Transcript reported one resident observed "busloads of people" visiting the monument site.

"What I'd give to have a hot-dog stand (there)," he said.

---

E-mail: carrie@desnews.com