Book of Mormon Geography

The premise of the Heartland Research Group is that the lands and cities mentioned in the Book of Mormon are located in the heartland of North America, that the hill Cumorah is in upper New York state and that Zarahemla is located across the river from Nauvoo. We believe this is consistent with the scriptures and the physical discoveries made thus far in the heartland.

Beyond Cumorah and Zarahemla, the Heartland Research Group has no other consensus position but we encourage ongoing research and discussion and the study of the geography and history in the Book of Mormon. We wish to validate and better understand the Book of Mormons historical narratives and recognize that this is a shared goal of Book of Mormon researchers who have differing views.

For Heartland geography models, there are four distinct versions below. Please let us know of corrections or additions.

1. THMx = Traditional Heartland Model:
   These models follow the original heartland model. There are three variants with minor differences: THM1, THM2, THM3.
2. ZCHM = Zarahemla Centric Heartland Model:
   This is a new model abbreviated as ZCHM with locations further west than the THM.
3. NAM = North American Model:
   This is a new model also quite different from the ZCHM and THM with locations further east.
4. WNYMx = Western New York Model:
   WNYM1 is an unique older model concentrated in the western upper New York area. WNYM2 is another more recent and complete version for the same area.

Heartland Geography Model Comparisons

	THM1	THM2	THM3	ZCHM	NAM	WNYM1	WNYM2
	Quick View (click)	Quick View (click)	Quick View (click)	Quick View (click)	Quick View (click)	Quick View (click)	Quick View (click)
Author	Rian Nelson, Rod Meldrum	Wayne May	Jonathan Neville	Jay Mackley	William Peter Midgley	Phyllis Carol Olive	Arlin Ewald Nusbaum
Website?	BookOfMormonEvidence.com	No	MoronisAmerica.com WorksOfJoseph.com	Heartland.TheHolyScriptures.info 3Dmap.TheHolyScriptures.info Google Earth .kmz download	NorthAmericaModel.com	No	BookofMormmongeography.org
Book?	Exploring The Book of Mormon in America’s Heartland	Zarahemla and the Nephite Nation Only One Cumorah They Came from the EAST America 2,000 B.C. to 500 A.D.	Moronis America The Lost City of Zarahemla	No	The North American Model for the Book of Mormon	Lost Lands of the Book of Mormon	No
Methodology (rank)	Archeaology sites Topography Scripture Text	Archeaology sites Dowsing Scripture Text	Archeaology sites Topography Scripture Text	Scripture Text Formal Rules Computer Data Analytics GPS Topography	Topography Scripture Text Archeaology sites	Topography Scripture Text	Topography Scripture Text
Formal Methodology?	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Hill Cumorah?	Upper New York State	Upper New York State	Upper New York State	Upper New York State	Upper New York State	Upper New York State	Upper New York State
City Zarahemla?	At or near Montrose, Iowa	At or near Montrose, Iowa	At or near Montrose, Iowa	At or near Montrose, Iowa	At or near Columbus, Ohio	Near Buffalo, New York	Near Buffalo, New York
City Nephi?	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Chattanooga, Tennessee	St Louis, Missouri	Northwest North Carolina	Western NY, near Lake Erie	Western NY, near Lake Erie
Extent/Size	1,500,000 square miles	1,500,000 square miles	1,500,000 square miles	150,000 square miles	650,000 square miles	12,000 square miles	12,000 square miles
Lands Mapped?	12%	10%	10%	100%	12%	8%	16%
Cities Mapped?	30%	15%	15%	100%	12%	8%	16%
Journeys Mapped?	0%	0%	0%	100%	0%	0%	0%
Battles Mapped?	0%	0%	0%	100%	0%	0%	0%
Named Topography?	25%	2%	17%	100%	48%	0%	30%
Interrelationships?	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Date Ranges?	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Jaredite Lands?	No	No	No	100%	No	No	No
Jaredite Cities?	No	No	No	100%	No	No	No
Jaredite Battles?	No	No	No	100%	No	No	No
Active Model?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Accessibility	Online, scattered. Book.	Books, lectures, scattered.	Online, books. Books required.	Online	Online partial. Book required.	Book only.	Online. In progress.