Fifteen miles south of Nauvoo, Illinois, on the same east bank of the Mississippi River, is the little town of Warsaw. The origins of the town can be traced back to 1814 when Fort Johnson was built on the east side of the Mississippi River across from where the Des Moines River merges with the Mississippi. However, Fort Johnson was burned just weeks after it was completed. What is now Warsaw became an important trading post.
In the 1840s, Warsaw became a center of those opposing the Mormon growth in Nauvoo. According to locals, the center bay of the building with the red trim was the office of the newspaper Warsaw Signal. That publication was edited by Thomas C. Sharp, who, allegedly, did much that led to the killing of Joseph Smith. Following the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the paper defended the deeds. The far-left portion of the home was once the Warsaw Fleming Tavern, a site where there was planning for and celebrating of the death of the Prophet and Patriarch. Tradition holds that some of the mob met there after the martyrdom.