Palmyra’s Grandin Building to Be Restored

Plans to restore the historic Grandin Building in Palmyra, New York, the printing shop where the first edition of the Book of Mormon was printed, have been announced.

The restoration “will offer visitors an experience with the Book of Mormon that will focus on its importance to the Church,” explained Elder Stephen D. Nadauld of the Seventy, executive director of the Church Historical Department. “In this historic building, the story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon will be brought to life in its authentic setting.”

Currently, the Grandin Building, located on Main Street in the western New York village, is part of the Palmyra Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was purchased by the Church in 1978.

Restoration plans call for an authentic early-19th-century press room and bindery in the building’s upper floors and a new interpretive exhibit on the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon on the main level. That exhibit will include a mock-up of E. B. Grandin’s bookstore, where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were made available for sale on 26 March 1830. Other exhibits on the floor will include a model of the Palmyra area, artistic depictions of Joseph Smith’s religious experiences in the area, and information on the translation of the Book of Mormon and preparation of the manuscript for printing.

The original press on which the Book of Mormon was printed is now on exhibit at the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City. It will be duplicated for display on the third floor of the building, along with a replication of a second smaller press which Mr. Grandin used for smaller printing jobs. In addition, another exhibit on the third floor will outline the story told in the Book of Mormon.

The project is slated to begin early in 1994, and the Grandin Building is planned to reopen for visitors sometime in 1995.

Grandin Building