From South Royalton, Vt., to San Diego, Calif., the nation is dotted with Church history points of interest. The many sites give tourists numerous options for short or extended vacation tours.

Some of the sites include visitors centers and free tours. Others are indicated by simple historical markers. Most of the sites besides San Diego and those in southern Utah stretch across the country, roughly adjacent to Interstate 80 and Interstate 90.There are clusters of sites in various places. Upstate New York is where the Restoration had its beginnings. Eastern Ohio, Missouri and Nauvoo, Ill., were early gathering places for the Saints. Salt Lake City was the final destination of the pioneers.

Following is a brief description of selected Church history sites, numbered to correspond with the numbers on the accompanying map. The sites highlighted across the country are not necessarily reviewed chronologically, but generally from east to west.

1. SOUTH ROYALTON, VT. Joseph Smith Jr. was born Dec. 23, 1805, at his grandfather Solomon Mack's farm near this small New England community five miles north of Sharon, Windsor County. The location is marked by a 38-foot high granite shaft, one foot for each year of the Prophet's life, and a visitors center.

2. WHITTINGHAM, VT. Brigham Young was born on June 1, 1801, in this town near the Massachusetts border. A monument commemorates the birthplace of the Church's second prophet.

3-4. PALMYRA AND MANCHESTER, N.Y. Many important events in the early stages of the Restoration occurred in and around these communities. There is a visitors center at Hill Cumorah and free tours are offered at Hill Cumorah and the Joseph Smith Sr. family home.

The Smith family lived in Palmyra for a time, then two years before the First Vision moved two miles south into Manchester Township. It was while living in a log home on his family's farm there that Joseph went to the sacred grove west of the farm to pray and was visited by the Father and the Son.

Three years later, in the same log home, Joseph was visited by the angel Moroni who revealed the location on the Hill Cumorah where were hidden the Gold Plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.

Later, the Smith family built an attractive frame home to replace the log house. The home has been restored by the Church.

The Hill Cumorah is about two miles south of the Smith farm. It was there that Joseph was taught by the Angel Moroni each year for four years before finally taking possession of the Gold Plates. A monument to the Angel Moroni now stands at the top of the hill.

After completing the translation of the Gold Plates in 1829, Joseph took the transcript to Egbert B. Grandin, a printer who had a shop on Main Street in Palmyra. Grandin agreed to print the Book of Mormon after Martin Harris, one of the Prophet's friends and supporters, mortgaged part of his farm to raise $3,000 to pay for the printing. The Church now owns the E.B. Grandin Building and is restoring it. It will be closed for approximately two years.

Travelers may also visit the Martin Harris Farm which is 11/2 miles north of Main Street in Palmyra. Martin Harris served briefly as a scribe for the Prophet during the translation of the Gold Plates and was one of the Three Witnesses.

5. FAYETTE, N.Y. On April 6, 1830, the Church was organized in a log home on Peter Whitmer's farm in Fayette Township, about 30 miles southeast of Palmyra. Joseph and his wife, Emma, had moved to Fayette from Harmony, Pa., in 1829 for a less hostile environment to complete the translation of the Book of Mormon. The Church has reconstructed the Peter Whitmer home on the site and also has a visitors center there.

6. OAKLAND, PA. This community just south of the border in Pennsylvania is where Joseph and Emma moved to escape persecution in the Palmyra area that began shortly after Joseph took possession of the Gold Plates. It was while Joseph and Oliver Cowdery were translating the Book of Mormon in Harmony, as Oakland was then known, that they retired to the woods to pray about baptism. In answer to their prayer, the resurrected John the Baptist appeared and restored the Aaronic Priesthood upon them. They then baptized each other in the Susquehanna River.

7. KIRTLAND, OHIO. To escape persecution in New York and Pennsylvania, members of the Church moved west. Bodies of the Church settled in Kirtland, Ohio, and in Missouri.

Visitors in Kirtland may tour the Kirtland Temple, the first built in this dispensation, in this community where the Church flourished for a time between 1831 and 1838. The temple was dedicated in 1836 after great sacrifice by the Saints to build it. The temple is owned and maintained by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

There is an LDS visitors center as well as free tours at the restored Newel K. Whitney House and Store. Joseph and Emma lived there for a time and the Prophet received some 46 revelations there. The School of the Prophets was held in the building until the temple was completed. Newel Whitney was called to be the first bishop of the Church in Kirtland and years later was sustained as the Presiding Bishop.

8. HIRAM, OHIO. Joseph Smith received some 16 revelations while living in the John Johnson Home about 30 miles south of Kirtland. Visitors may tour the restored home.

9. NAUVOO, ILL. After the Saints were driven out of Missouri by mobs in 1838-39 they backtracked eastward to a small village called Commerce, Ill., on the bank of the Mississippi River. They were joined there by other members fleeing persecution in Ohio. Over the next few years they transformed the mosquito-infested swampland into the beautiful city of Nauvoo, at its peak the largest city in Illinois. There the Church enjoyed a few prosperous years, only to be driven out again.

The crowning glory of Nauvoo was the temple, which was built on the highest point of the city overlooking the Mississippi. It was not completed until many Saints had already begun to leave, expelled by mobs. The temple no longer stands; it was destroyed by mobs and storm. Visitors may walk around the site of the temple, viewing the area of its foundation. The Temple Block, landscaped to give the appearance of a beautiful park with gardens, features a small bronze replica of the temple.

There are many restored sites in Nauvoo to give visitors a flavor of what the magnificent city was like. The sites include homes, businesses and Church buildings. There is a visitors center in the city and there are many tours available, including live demonstrations of trades.

10. CARTHAGE, ILL. A great tragedy in Church history occurred on June 27, 1844, when Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob in this small town 15 miles southeast of Nauvoo. The Prophet and his brother, along with Willard Richards and John Taylor, were imprisoned in the Carthage Jail when a mob broke in and shot to death Joseph and Hyrum.

John Taylor was also seriously wounded. The Church has restored the jail building and has a visitors center there.

11-12. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, AND FLORENCE, NEB. After they were driven out of Nauvoo, the Saints crossed Iowa and established camps on both sides of the Missouri River on the border of Iowa and Nebraska.

It was from Council Bluffs that the Mormon Battalion marched after being called to serve in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. The Mormon Pioneer Memorial Bridge crosses the Missouri River near Council Bluffs.

There is a visitors center in Winter Quarters, later called Florence at 3215 State St., North Omaha, on the Nebraska side of the river. A monument to the pioneers who died has been erected in Pioneer Park cemetery there. It was at Winter Quarters that the Saints prepared to complete the long journey west to the Rocky Mountains.

13. GALLATIN, MO. The location of the sacred place called Adam-ondi-Ahman was revealed to Joseph Smith to be just north of this Mormon settlement in northwest Missouri. A highway marker identifies the area. The Prophet revealed that Adam had gathered his family together at Adam-ondi-Ahman a short time before his death.

14. FAR WEST, MO. The cornerstones laid for the construction of a temple in this Mormon settlement south of Gallitan are still in place. Far West became a major gathering place for the Saints until they were persecuted and driven out by angry mobs.

15. LIBERTY, MO. A visitors center encloses the partially restored Liberty Jail where the Prophet and some associates were imprisoned during the winter of 1838-39. Liberty is about 15 miles northeast of Kansas City. While the brethren suffered greatly while in the jail, Joseph Smith received several revelations there.

16. INDEPENDENCE, MO. Located immediately east of Kansas City, Independence was an early gathering place for the Saints in Missouri and was designated by the Prophet as the Center Place of Zion. Mobs drove the Saints out of the area soon after they began building the city. The history of the Church in the area is told in a visitors center in Independence.

17. SALT LAKE CITY. Since the arrival of the first pioneers in 1847, Salt Lake City has grown and prospered as a gathering place for the Saints and the headquarters of the Church. Historical sites are abundant, including the Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake Tabernacle and Assembly Hall on Temple Square. There are two visitors centers on Temple Square. The Museum of Church History and Art and the Family History Library are across the street west of Temple Square.

There are many monuments in Salt Lake City. One is "This Is the Place Monument which is named for Brigham Young's" famous utterance upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley and commemorates the event. There is also a monument to the Mormon Battalion on the grounds of the state capitol.

Other sites of interest are the Beehive House and Lion House which served as homes for Brigham Young and his family as well as Church administrative offices.

18. COVE FORT, UTAH. The Church has restored and authentically furnished this fort located about 160 miles south of Salt Lake City. Ira N. Hinckley, President Gordon B. Hinckley's grandfather, oversaw construction of the fort. The first part was completed in 1867. It gave protection to settlers in the area and also provided supplies and assistance to travelers in the sparsely populated territory.

19. ST. GEORGE, UTAH. Brigham Young built a winter home in this community 300 miles south of Salt Lake City. The home has been restored by the Church and visitors may tour it. They may also tour the home of a great missionary to the native Americans - Jacob Hamblin - in Santa Clara, four miles northwest of St. George.

20. SAN DIEGO, CALIF. The Mormon Battalion completed its 2,000-mile march through the southwestern United States in San Diego. Although battalion members never had to fight in the Mexican War, they forged an important trail from Nebraska to California while suffering much affliction in the desert environment. Their accomplishment is recounted in a Church visitors center in San Diego.

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The Church has made available a brochure, "National Points of Interest," that contains additional information that can be of value in planning trips. Besides historical sites, the brochure includes information on temples, Church pageants and international visitors centers. The brochure, which lists telephone numbers for most of the sites, is available through the Church Distribution Center for 35 cents; stock No. 32669.