The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced this week the church will build a new visitors center - The Mormon Trail Center - in Omaha, Neb.
Located across the street from the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery in the area known historically as Winter Quarters, the center will tell the story of the Latter-day Saint exodus from Nauvoo, Ill., the founding of temporary settlements in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska and of the overland journey to Utah.The center, with 7,000 square feet of exhibit space, will be completed in time for the church's 1997 celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Mormon Pioneers' arrival in Utah. Replicas of a covered wagon, a handcart, a log cabin and a detailed model of the town of Winter Quarters will all be included in the exhibits.
"The Mormon Trail Center at historic Winter Quarters will offer visitors a glimpse of the faith and courage of early Latter-day Saints who left their comfortable homes and sacred temple in Nauvoo," said Elder Stephen D. Nadauld, executive director of the church's historical department and chairman of the sites committee. In the face of great obstacles, they journeyed to a place of refuge in Utah, where they built homes and a new temple to worship God.
"The site for the new center is particularly appropriate, since the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery is nearly all that remains of the Latter-day Saint settlements in the area that served as way stations for these pioneers," Elder Na-dauld said.
The exhibit team is also interested in artifacts carried to Utah by Latter-day Saint emigrants between 1847 and 1890. Interested parties may contact Marjorie Conder, Museum of Church History and Art, at 801-240-4649.