design and decoration The interior floor plan of the temple is noticeably different from the original structure in which the endowment ceremony assumed its present format. At the direction of Joseph Smith, the west end of the attic story was divided by cloth partitions into four spaces used to administer the endowment. One of the canvas "rooms" was decorated with potted plants to suggest the Garden of Eden. The Salt Lake City Endowment House and early Utah temples, each with a series of four ordinance rooms through which patrons moved during the presentation of the endowment, followed this layout. The first three rooms were decorated with murals representing, the creation of the world, the Garden of Eden, and the world after the fall of Adam and Eve. The fourth room, known as the Terrestrial Room, was ornately decorated but lacked murals. The Los Angeles California Temple, dedicated in 1956, was the last temple with this layout. Subsequent temples presented the endowment in one or two rooms without murals adorning the ordinance rooms. The use of murals resumed again in 2001 with the opening of the Columbia River Washington Temple.. The Nauvoo Illinois Temple, a throwback to the four room layout, is the sole exception, as it has the four-room progressive format with murals decorating the first three rooms. Open house and dedication After the temple was completed, a public open house from 6 May to 22 June 2002 attracted over 250,000 visitors to tour the temple. The completion and official dedication took place on June 27, 2002, on the anniversary of the death of Joseph Smith, the church's founder. Up to 1.5 million visitors a year have visited Nauvoo since the temple opened in 2002. In 2020, like all the church's other temples, the Nauvoo Illinois Temple was closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Presidents Notable presidents of the temple include Richard W. Winder (2002–04) and Spencer J. Condie (2010–13). Gallery References External links Nauvoo Illinois Temple at ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org 21st-century Latter Day Saint temples 2002 establishments in Illinois Buildings and structures in Hancock County, Illinois Latter Day Saint movement in Illinois Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo Temple Temples (LDS Church) completed in 2002 Temples (LDS Church) in Illinois Tourist attractions in Hancock County, Illinois