Joseph Smith Memorial

Just gorgeous! Birds chirping, green fields, and Mormon Tabernacle Choir music in the trees. This was my first visit, just 3 hours from Boston, and I hope I can come again!

I like Mark T. am also not a member of the LDS Church but after a morning perusal in the Valley News I noticed that the Joseph Smith Memorial had a lovely invitation to come visit. I was touched by their ad and am interested in learning more about world religions so I figured why not?
Why not indeed, the Joseph Smith Memorial is located easily off highway 14 and is very near South Royalton’s town center. When you drive up the road becomes extremely narrow (only wide enough for one vehicle) which I found slightly disconcerting because it means you have to be funneled out another way. I like knowing the easiest and direct way to leave somewhere unfamiliar and this put me on edge.
There were some senior citizens milling about, one painting and another on a walk. My companion and I were approached by a woman who is a sister in the LDS Church. Evidently it is part of their mandate to send people to work at the memorial as a missionary calling. I found it admirable that this woman and her husband were willing to move from Utah to Vermont, having been to Utah I know there’s a big difference!
The sister proceeded to take us on a «tour» of the museum at the memorial. This is located in a small building and has various paintings and quotes associated with Joseph Smith. I was interested in learning more about the Mormon faith and about the articles relating to Smith himself but I was not to be satisfied. The sister pointed out various paintings but did not have much information of corporeal interest. She shared a lot of personal anecdotes which I did not find particularly interesting. The sister did know a lot out the monument itself, which is meant to represent Joseph Smith as an unpolished shaft. This shaft had a long journey from Barre to it’s current resting place. The history behind the movement of the shaft is intriguing but the mechanics behind it’s transportation are not mind blowing. The sister also skipped a lot of the paintings and exhibits in order to hand out The Book of Mormon, which is quite nice. This edition is faux leather bound and already comes pre-​highlighted in spots.
The sister had my companion and I circling the monument at one point to catch the best ray of light shining on its surface which was actually pretty entertaining. Unlike Mark T. I was not able to enjoy the music as it wasn’t playing. The sister did say it usually is playing (The Mormon Tabernacle Choir) but it wasn’t on my visit. The paths around the grounds to the old foundations of some houses were very nice but not stand out paths. I was happy that it wasn’t difficult to navigate the exit.
Overall I would’ve liked more concrete information about the place of Joseph Smith’s birth that wasn’t already printed on the walls and a little more self direction during our visit but the Sister was so nice it was hard to pull away.

Before starting, a disclaimer should be noted that I am not a member of the LDS church and my knowledge of most of their beliefs is limited. Despite that, I wanted to stop by the Joseph Smith birthplace memorial on my drive through Vermont. I am a fan of history, and this site is historical. Also, it is nestled in the small town of South Royalton.
The site is not far off the main road. The first impression I had was the beautiful exterior. A nice sign marking the entrance was surrounded by a beautiful display of flowers. Looking ahead at the driveway, an impressive tree-​lined road stood out amongst the trees displaying colorful signs of an early autumn afternoon. The drive way extends past two buildings and gives a nice distance view of the memorial. I parked in the lot behind the building and was greeted by the sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir played softly through speakers hidden in the trees. A nice rock bench underneath the trees sat on one side of the drive way and a path behind the building took walkers to the memorial.
The sounds of the choir could be heard throughout the grounds — and each view of the grounds was remarkable. Another wooden chair was placed under a low-​lying tree bow with surrounding flowers. The path to the memorial was a short distance away.
An impressive fact about the memorial is that it is a granite monument that is over 38 feet tall and was mined from a nearby quarry. It was built in 1905 on the 100^th anniversary of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith’s birth. The stone has held up well in the 100 years it has stood. The inscription can be seen in one of my photographs attached.
On the way out I stopped by the visitor’s center. They are not there to recruit you, feel free to enter and have a look around at some of the facts and items of Joseph Smith. There are pamphlets available if you want more information, but none of the people I spoke with pushed anything on me. They were very pleasant knowledgeable. I didn’t spend time to take the entire tour that is provided, but I would like to do that sometime. If nothing else, walking on the beautiful grounds, especially with an autumn chill in the air and the changing of colors on the trees makes for a great stop in Vermont!