After visiting the Smith family farm, Sacred Grove, and Hill Cumorah we made our way into "downtown" Palmyra, grabbed some lunch (see the tip at the end of my post), and crossed the street to tour the Grandin Buildling. The Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site is located on Main Street in Palmyra. Right in the middle of things. We only spent an hour at this site, but every minute was filled with wonderful things to see and learn. Like facsimiles of the original Book of Mormon manuscript and vignette scenes of what translating the Book of Mormon looked like ....
But for me, the real fun was in the printing and binding rooms. The scrapbooker and vintage lover in me just could not get enough of the printer's trays, stamps, ink, paper, embossing tools, and binding threads. All eye-candy! And the senior missionaries who took us on the tour were very knowledgeable and did a great job of explaining and making sense of everything.
These sheets are called "signatures" and they have to be folded just right so that the individual pages show up in the book in the right order. Each copy of the Book of Mormon contains 37 signatures. They printed 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon which was a huge undertaking back in that day!
Printer's trays (above) and binding table (below)
The Grandin Building is 3 stories tall. The original building is actually completely encompassed by a newer outer building. These brick walls that you see are the original brick of the Grandin Building.
Because the printing process was located on the top floor they employed a pulley system to lower completed sheets to other levels where binding and finishing would take place.
It has been 3 years since our trip so I'm not 100% on details, but I'm pretty sure that anytime I took a picture of the floor that meant that the floors were original.
This is the lower level with the sales counter.
Beautiful books all lined up on the shelf.
Next up, a 40 minute drive to Fayette so we can end the day with a visit to the Peter Whitmer farm.
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Lunch tip .... Mark's Pizzeria was right across the street from the Grandin Building and we got this party pizza for $24.99. Definitely important to keep everyone fed on a trip like this. We don't need anyone getting hangry!
Day 1 - Manchester, Palmyra, Fayette
Smith Family Farm, Sacred Grove, and Hill Cumorah
Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site
Palmyra Itinerary: Download Day 1 Palmyra Itinerary
Guide to Church Historic Sites: Grandin Building
