There are awesome websites about Church History locations. They offer excellent resources. However, the content needs some work to make it more accurate and to better inform readers.
This article mentions the one for Ohio:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-archive/2025/04/02/church-launches-new-website-featuring-ohio-historic-sites/
This is the page:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/history/sites/ohio?lang=eng
This is the main page:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/history/sites?lang=eng
Here's the page for New York/Pennsylvania:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/history/sites/new-york-and-pennsylvania?lang=eng
It has an excellent overview map.
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The page for the Book of Mormon fortunately portrays the stone box fairly accurately, without the "sword of Laban" that some people claim was in there, contrary to all the accounts.
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Lucy Mack Smith reported what Moroni told Joseph that first night. the record is on a side hill on the Hill of Cumorah 3 miles from this place remove the Grass and moss and you will find a large flat stone pry that up and you will find the record under it laying on 4 pillars
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/41
Accordingly when the time arrived he went to the place appointed and removed the moss and grass from the surface of the rock and then pryed up the flat stone according to the directions which he had received he then discovered the plates laying on on 4 pillars in the inside of the box
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/44
In the photograph above, the stone is rounded, which would make it more obvious. Joseph wouldn't need to remove the grass and moss to find it. Lucy's description ("a large flat stone") makes more sense, but her account has been largely ignored.
Which brings up another point.
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The page for Cumorah needs work. I Here are my suggestions:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/locations/hill-cumorah?lang=eng
Original in blue, my comments in red, proposed changes in green.
Hill Cumorah
Hill Cumorah in Manchester, New York, is the place where Joseph Smith met annually with the angel Moroni from 1823 to 1827 and obtained the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon would be translated.
This is accurate but incomplete and thus misleading. It leaves readers without an answer to the obvious question: "Why is this hill named Cumorah?"
It's not a difficult question to answer.
Proposed emendation. Add the following sentence:
The hill is called "Cumorah" because that's how Moroni identified it when he first visited Joseph in September 1823.
The events that took place at the Hill Cumorah were foundational to the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Directed by the angel Moroni, Joseph Smith found the golden plates deposited in the hill on September 22, 1823. Proposed emendation: Add the following in the narrative or in a footnote:
Joseph's mother explained what Moroni told him that night: "the record is on a side hill on the Hill of Cumorah 3 miles from this place remove the Grass and moss and you will find a large flat stone pry that up and you will find the record under it laying on 4 pillars
Joseph then met the angel there on the same date for the next three years until he was finally allowed to obtain the plates on September 22, 1827.
Proposed emendation: Add the following in the narrative or in a footnote:
Joseph's mother related one of Joseph's encounters with Moroni: "as I passed by the hill of Cumorah, where the plates are, the angel of the Lord met me and said, that I had not been engaged enough in the work of the Lord; that the time had come for the record to <be> brought forth; and, that I must be up and doing, and set myself about the things which God had commanded me to do."
From those plates, Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God.
This incomplete paraphrase of what Joseph said omits an essential part of the narrative Joseph and Oliver gave us. It is better for people to see what they actually said.
Proposed emendation. Delete the last sentence and replace it with what Joseph actually said:
Joseph explained that "I obtained them [the plates] and the Urim and Thummim with them, by the means of which I translated the plates and thus came the Book of Mormon."
The site includes a variety of trails, the Angel Moroni Monument, and a visitors’ center. No changes needed.
Although it is commonly known as the Hill Cumorah, this name was not used sometime after the pivotal events of 1823–1827.
This confusing sentence appears to be missing a word. The historians apparently meant to write "this name was not used until sometime after the pivotal events of 1823–1827."
But if that is what they meant to write, then the sentence is misleading because there are no known documents from 1823-1827 regarding the plates, the hill, Moroni, the First Vision, or any other Restoration events.
To be consistent, historians would also observe that "the name "Moroni" was not used until sometime after the pivotal events of 1823-1827." Instead, relying on retrospective accounts, they state the dates of Moroni's visit as a fact. Which is fine.
But to be consistent, they should also state as a fact that it was Moroni who identified the hill as Cumorah in the first place.
Everything we know about this time period was recorded retrospectively. For example, the claim that Joseph met Moroni in September 1827 is based on retrospective accounts.
To claim that the name "Cumorah" was not used because there are no known contemporaneous documents is to also claim that none of the other Restoration events took place because there is no known contemporaneous documentation.
We assume people talked about these events at the time they occurred. They just didn't write anything down until later. Historians rely on Lucy Mack Smith's accounts as the best, and often only, source of information about Joseph Smith's life before people began recording events contemporaneously.
The selective omission of "Cumorah" from the historical record reflects modern ideological theories, not the historical record.
Proposed emendation. Replace this confusing sentence with the following.
The hill is commonly known as the Hill Cumorah because that is what Moroni called it when he first visited Joseph Smith. Oliver Cowdery explained that it was a fact that this is the same hill referenced in Mormon 6:6.
http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/90
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, many residents of Wayne and Ontario Counties referred to it as “Gold Bible Hill” and “Mormon Hill.”
Proposed emendation. Add the following sentence.
The Church acquired the Hill Cumorah in 1928 and restored the name Cumorah, by which it is still known today.
However, many early members of the Church, including some of Joseph Smith’s closest friends and family members, referred to the hill as “Cumorah” at various times in Joseph Smith’s lifetime.
While technically accurate, this is misleading because it implies these "early members of the Church" invented the term or adopted a false narrative. Historians should explain that Lucy Mack Smith related what Moroni told Joseph the first night, that Joseph referred to the hill as Cumorah even before he got the plates, that Oliver Cowdery explained it was Moroni who called the hill Cumorah, that Oliver declared it is a fact that the New York Cumorah is the same as the Cumorah/Ramah mentioned in the text, that David Whitmer met the messenger who had the plates and was going to Cumorah before going to Fayette, etc.
Proposed emendation. Replace the sentence with the following.
Many early members of the Church, including some of Joseph Smith's closest friends and family members, related accounts that affirmed Moroni's identification of the hill as Cumorah.
This is likely because Moroni, the Book of Mormon’s final author and the angel who met with Joseph Smith, wrote that he would “hide up the record in the earth” once he had finished adding a few words of his own (see Mormon 8:4, 14). This speculative sentence should be omitted because there are zero historical documents that state, imply, or even suggest that this is the reason why Joseph and his contemporaries referred to the hill as Cumorah. Instead, the historical references indicate that it was Moroni himself who identified the hill as Cumorah, along with the messenger to whom Joseph gave the plates before leaving Harmony (whom Joseph identified as one of the Three Nephites).
Proposed emendation. Delete the sentence.
Since this passage follows Moroni’s account of the great final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites, which occurred at a hill called Cumorah, many assumed that Moroni buried the plates in the same hill (see Mormon 8:2–4) and it was there that Joseph later received the record. This speculative sentence should be omitted because there are zero historical documents that state, imply, or even suggest that this is the reason why Joseph and his contemporaries referred to the hill as Cumorah. To the contrary, President Cowdery stated it was a fact, not an assumption.
Proposed emendation. Delete the sentence.
One of Joseph Smith’s later letters likewise refers to the “glad tiding from Cumorah” and the visit of “Moroni, an angel from heaven” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:20). By changing the word order and omitting part of the reference, the historians have changed the meaning of Joseph's letter. The entire sentence demonstrates that Joseph learned the name Cumorah from Moroni before he received the plates. Moroni told him about "the book to be revealed." (emphasis added)
Proposed emendation. Replace the edited quotation with the full quotation.
Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. (Doctrine and Covenants 128:20)
While the Church “does not take a position on the specific geographic locations of Book of Mormon events in the ancient Americas,” records kept by Joseph Smith and his contemporaries make it clear that this hill is the place where Joseph Smith met with Moroni and where Joseph received the plates containing the Book of Mormon (see Gospel Topics: Book of Mormon Geography). The entry on Book of Mormon Geography does not mention Cumorah. As such, it retains the teachings of the prophets from the beginning because they always emphasized two things: (i) Cumorah is in New York and (ii) we don't know the location of the other events in the New World.
Proposed emendation. Replace the sentence with this.
While the Church “does not take a position on the specific geographic locations of Book of Mormon events in the ancient Americas,” the prophets have consistently taught two things: (i) Cumorah is in New York and (ii) we don't know the location of the other events in the New World. Additionally, retrospective records kept by Joseph Smith and his contemporaries make it clear that this hill is the place where Joseph Smith met with Moroni and where Joseph received the plates containing the Book of Mormon (see Gospel Topics: Book of Mormon Geography).
