The "monument and the memorial cottage" depicted in 1907.[2]
In 1884, LDS Church leader Junius F. Wells visited Smith's birthplace and conceived a plan to build a monument to him.[3] Under the direction of church president Joseph F. Smith, Wells oversaw the construction of the monument and cottage house in 1905. The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial was dedicated by Joseph F. Smith on the 100th anniversary of Joseph Smith's birth, on December 23, 1905.[2]
By 1907, Wells reported that there had been between seven and eight thousand visitors.[2]
Description
The monument stands 50 feet (15 m) tall and weighs approximately 100 short tons (91 t). The 40-short-ton (36 t) shaft of the obelisk is 38.5 feet (11.7 m) long: one for each year of Smith's life. The obelisk was quarried in Barre, Vermont, and it has been cited as a "remarkable engineering feat"[4] and "one of the largest polished shafts in the world".[5]
An LDS Church visitors' center and meetinghouse are on the same property as the memorial. Admission to the visitors' center and tours of the memorial site are free.
Notes
^The monument itself lies just within the corporate boundaries of Royalton, Vermont. However, the foundations of the cabin that it is believed Smith was born in lie just over the boundary line in Sharon, Vermont.[citation needed]
