Priesthood Restoration Site

The Priesthood Restoration Site in Oakland Township, Pennsylvania, features historic landscapes, statues, two reconstructed homes, and a Visitors’ Center commemorating the events surrounding the translation of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. Visitors learn about these events by viewing a film and enjoying interactive exhibits. Guided tours of the Isaac and Elizabeth Hale Home and the Joseph and Emma Smith Home begin in the visitors’ center. Visitors are also invited to explore the various trails on site which will take them to the nearby sugar bush where the Aaronic priesthood was likely restored or to visit the banks of the Susquehanna River where Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were baptism. The McKune Cemetery, where Joseph and Emma Smith buried their first child and where Emma’s parents are buried, is adjacent to the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Monument.

Joseph Smith translated most of the Book of Mormon here in the home he shared with his wife Emma. She and others served as Joseph’s scribes for a time, before Oliver Cowdrey became the primary scribe. At the Priesthood Restoration Site, you will have the opportunity to tour two homes, the Isaac and Elizabeth Hale Home, and the Joseph and Emma Smith Home and learn more about the Prophet’s time living in Harmony.

On May 15, 1829, in answer to Joseph and Oliver’s prayer about baptism, God sent John the Baptist, who conferred on Joseph and Oliver the Aaronic Priesthood. Joseph and Oliver then baptized each other in the Susquehanna River. In 1960 the Church placed a monument at the site commemorating the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. The historic landscape and walking trails help visitors get a sense of the place where these miraculous events occurred.