Visit This Gothic-Style Temple in Lake County

The white, Gothic-style Kirtland Temple sits atop a hill in Lake County, symbolizing the perseverance of the early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church is the centerpiece of Historic Kirtland, which encompasses nearly 30 acres and seven historic buildings, offering insight into the 19th-century community that lived here.

“For people who want to have a sense of early 1830s life in the Western Reserve of Ohio, it is a fascinating microcosm of what life was like here,” says Scott Barrick, site leader at Historic Kirtland.

In 1831, the LDS church was already established in western New York, but as membership grew in Ohio, the community relocated to Kirtland, believing that it was God’s will. Joseph Smith, the church’s founder, led the migration and arrived to find several buildings already constructed, including (as we know them today) the Newel and Ann Whitney Home, the N.K. Whitney & Co. Store and the schoolhouse.

Between 1833 and 1836, with limited skill and resources, church members constructed new buildings, such as a sawmill, Joseph and Emma Smith’s home and the Kirtland Temple, which served as a vital community space for gatherings, education and worship.

Community strife ultimately led to Smith’s departure from Kirtland in 1838, and the site operated under different ownership until March 2023, when it was transferred back to the LDS church. Today, visitors can explore the site’s key structures year-round, and guided tours of the temple are made available for groups of up to 25, allowing visitors to ascend the steep 66 steps to the third floor, where Smith’s administrative office was located.

“When I look at that building, in many respects I think it’s a miracle that it stands,” Barrick says of the temple.

The Historic Kirtland Visitors’ Center houses exhibits and artifacts that share the site’s history, including early 1900s photographs, scale models of the ashery and sawmill, a short film depicting pioneer life in the 1830s and a QR code that allows visitors to trace their ancestry to see if they have any connections to Kirtland.

“It’s certainly a source of pride that the events that transpired here influenced what is now a world religion,” Barrick says. “There are over 17 million members of the church in the world today, but it traces all its heritage here to Kirtland.”

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Rd., Kirtland 44094, 440/256-9805, churchofjesuschrist.org

For more Ohio travel inspiration, sign up for our Ohio Magazine newsletters. 

Ohio Magazine is available in a beautifully designed print issue that is published 7 times a year, along with Spring-Summer and Fall-Winter editions of LongWeekends magazine. Subscribe to Ohio Magazine and stay connected to beauty, adventure and fun across our state.