Far West, Missouri: a historic Mormon settlement that was forced out of state in the 1830s

Far West Church.Photo byJohn Hamer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

During the late 1830s, a settlement known as Far West was established in Caldwell County, Missouri. It was associated with the Latter-Day Saints movement. The site of Far West is a historic site owned and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 22, 1970.

Far West is located 5.5 miles west of Kingston by County Roads D and H. When it was first established, it was a 1-mile square. Not a lot remains of the Mormon town of Far West. There is the temple lot site which the members made into a shrine and park in 1968. There's also a small Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church building.

The remainder of the town site consists of farmland. Some original cornerstones of what was the proposed temple building are on site. They were unearthed and marked by the LDS Church.

At its height, Far West was an impressively designed city. On the public square, the Church was going to build a large temple and other buildings. Now a deserted site, it's an important area to Missouri historians and Mormons.

Photo byGoogle Maps screenshot of 2023.

This town holds a special religious meaning for Mormon church members. As the story goes, the church's modern-day prophet, Joseph Smith, received seven divinely given revelations here. Those revelations shaped the basic structure of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then later, the Reorganized Church.

Within the establishment of Far West was a locally controlled government by the Mormons. Far West used to be one of northwest Missouri's largest communities. It also served as the church's official world headquarters.

When residents of Jackson and Clay County became hostile toward Mormons, Missouri church leaders John Whitmer and W.W. Phelps led a committee to look for a new area to locate in 1836.

The Missouri General Assembly designated Caldwell County as a Mormon County. That's when the church chose a site in that county's west central portion.

On August 8, 1836, the Mormons officially established the townsite of Far West as their capital. The town which was laid out was a growing county seat for many residents. City blocks were designed to contain four acres.

Far West Temple site.Photo byGoogle Maps screenshot.

On July 4, 1837, something happened in Far West. The church fathers laid the cornerstone for a new temple. The temple was never built. The Mormons evacuated the temple's cellar. Because of violent disputes with non-Mormons, officials in Missouri were prompted to force the Mormons to leave.

Monument in Far West.Photo byJohn Hamer at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The church's Prophet and other high-ranking church members were imprisoned in the winter of 1838-1839. In January 1939, the Mormons established a committee to evacuate members from Far West and its surrounding area to a location in western Illinois that was safer. This was a mass exodus that left only a few in the community.

Far West continued to be the county seat of Caldwell County seat until l843 when it was transferred to Kingston. The temple site and some of the surrounding land were acquired by the Church of Latter-Day Saints in 1909. The monument above was dedicated to the early settlers in the 1960s.

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