Officials estimate that about 70 percent of Nauvoo's visitors are Mormons, lured by deep and tragic roots in the town that church leaders founded in the 1830s after leaving New York, Ohio and Missouri.

As the frontier town grew, once nearly equaling Chicago in the number of residents, neighbors became distrustful of the new sect and leery of their increasing economic and political clout. Quarrels escalated to violence, ending with the shooting death of church founder Smith and forcing Mormons west in 1846, eventually to found Salt Lake City.

Their abandoned temple was desecrated by vandals, then gutted by an arson fire in 1848. A tornado later knocked down most of its walls, leaving little more than foundation stones until a church member's anonymous donation rebuilt the temple as a memorial.

That legacy draws thousands of Mormons to Nauvoo every year, sometimes in groups of 100 or more, along with busloads of non-Mormons lured by the area's rich history, which also includes Illinois' oldest winery.

"It exemplifies the spirit of the early pioneers and their sacrifice. You can feel their spirit in Nauvoo," Randy Marshall, a Mormon from Ogden, Utah, said this month while visiting the historic town with his wife and three children.

Worldwide, the 12.5 million member church has more than 100 temples, which are used for marriages, baptisms and other religious rites, but not worship services. Compared to the others, the remote Nauvoo temple serves a small population of nearby Mormons.

"This is really, you might say, a tourist temple. It's here because it's historically significant," said David Wright, who controls administrative duties as recorder for the Nauvoo temple.

Temples are sacred and only about 30 percent of Mormons qualify to enter them, based on standards that include tithing, moral character and adhering to prohibitions on alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, Wright said.

Tourists can get a glimpse inside the temple through videos at a visitors center and don't complain about being kept outside, said Jon Larson, a Mormon missionary from Utah working as public affairs director for the church in Nauvoo.

Paula Mason, who frequently drives more than two hours from Peoria to visit Nauvoo, says just seeing the temple is enough.

"It's just a peaceful place where you can leave the world ... and you can't find that anywhere else," Mason, 67, said as she sat on a bench across the street from the temple entrance.

Officials say tourism sparked by the temple has added some lodging, restaurants and an arcade in Nauvoo, but not the business growth many expected.

Miller, president of Nauvoo's chamber for the past three years, says businesses are reluctant to build because church-related tourism peaks over the summer, then slows to a trickle.

He said expanding offseason tourism could pour another $10 million into the local economy, so officials are looking at options such as touting eagles that nest along the Mississippi River over the winter or the town's location within a few hours of Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City.

"Anything that comes is going to be true to form with the history of Nauvoo," Miller said. "I still see it as a family-oriented town that has a rich history in all aspects of life."