It is the proposed site for a Latter Day Saint temple, although efforts to build a temple there were halted in the 19th century as a result of the 1838 Mormon War to evict the Mormons from Missouri. Adam-ondi-Ahman was a flash point in that confrontation. After the Mormons were evicted, the site was renamed Cravensville. It was the site of a skirmish during the American Civil War on August 4, 1862, when Union troops attempted to stop Confederate reinforcements in the First Battle of Independence. Six Confederates were killed and 10 wounded. The Union forces had five wounded.