Mormon Battalion Historic Site

I think kids would enjoy it. A chance to dress up, watch talking pictures, see a movie, and pan for gold. If you’re not Mormon, just leave the religion part out of it and you should enjoy it too.

I was surprised at how entertaining the 40 minute interactive film presentation was! It summarized the 2,000 mile historical journey of 500 Mormon men and women who joined the US Army in Iowa, marched to Santa Fe, then blazed a wagon road from there to San Diego. The film and presentations are based on 80 diaries written by the participants. I liked the story of the 9-​year-​old boy who followed the company until the commander allowed him to join.
When the Mormons arrived in San Diego their one-​year enlistment had not been completed so they went to work to improve this settlement. The dug wells, fired bricks, and the old courthouse that still stands near the Wells Fargo building.
Even though this site is run by the Mormon Church, they made no attempt to preach or proselyte to us. They did not ask for, or even have a box for donations. They made their presentation light and fun! The have historical artifacts and old time photos at the end. There is also a place to pan for fools gold. There is nothing for sale, otherwise I would have liked to buy a book with more information about this historic trek!

We had a great tour. Panning for gold, the lookout tower and the great interactive tour. Close to old town and a fun addition for the family.

This was a great little surprise in old town. Even if you are not religious, it is great for learning history and seeing old artifacts. Great for all ages. Much more captivating that most museums I have been to. I don’t want to say more to give too much away go see it, it’s free too.

This is a fantastic historical site with an excellent interactive presentation. I was in town on business and just happened to see the sign for the museum while driving through Old Town.
The museum is set up with several areas set in the time period of the 1800s. Video presentations and very friendly curators take you back in time to experience a little of what is was like for the Mormons that joined the army and trekked west on a 2000 mile journey. Very impressive presentation.

Coolest Church historic tour I’ve ever been too. Very entertaining. Some cool sound effects and video features as well! Really enjoyed the 40 min tour, free old style photo, and panning for gold. Would highly recommend anyone stop by and check it out!

I was surprise to hear this house/​battalion don’t have nothing in common with the place or history. Is just a fabricated location to bring back the history of Mormon battalion who came in California! People are nice and speak with love about their history.

The amount of people on this site who seem legitimately baffled that a place with the word «Mormon» in its name would dare talk about, well, Mormons, is pretty staggering. Come on, people… Mormons have been around since the 1830s. If you don’t know by now that we love telling people about our faith, there’s not a lot that can be done to help you. Stop being so shocked that a place devoted to telling the story of the Mormon Battalion would also talk about Mormonism in general.
As far as the tour itself, it was very informative. Sure, there was a lot of shtick and lots of theatrics, but nothing as offensive as some of the reviewers here would have you believe. If you’re LDS, you’ll enjoy your time. Even if you’re not LDS, but are secure in your own faith (or even your lack thereof) I’d even venture a guess that you’d be entertained. However, if you’re a stick-​in-​the-​mud who loves to find offense and complain about everything, you should probably just avoid it and look for a local hipster hangabout.

While we were in San Diego for business we decided to check this historic site out. The tour was as if we were part of the story. It was like being on a little adventure! This would be a great place to bring your family. The employees were welcoming, entertaining, and got the audience to feel as if we were back in time. We enjoyed ourselves. The best part is that it was free!
If you plan on visiting Old Town San Diego, this place would be a great experience!

This is a fun, free family activity in old town. Expect to spend about an hour there between the tour and the play area.
The tour is pretty fun. Black and white photos come to life and begin to tell the story of the Mormon Battalion. You’ll be guided through a series of rooms, all made up to look like various places in the battalions journey — a camp site, log cabin store, and the San Diego courthouse. It’s very interactive and fun.
The last room has artifacts from the trek, and a camera to take a free olde timey photo, which is cute. It opens to the patio where kids can pan for gold (and keep a couple nuggets), make bricks and do the laundry with an old washboard. Our kids loved that part.
The site is maintained by missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-​day Saints. This western migration story is full of faith and prayer.
But, it’s a fun museum with interesting stories about early San Diego that would be a great morning trip for someone of any faith.

This place was like an oasis from the hot blistering heat of Old Town in late June. As I was about to collapse in a pool of my own sweat, I saw it.
The Mormon battalion Historic Site.
It was air conditioned, free, and you get to look for gold at the end of the tour. Call me nostalgic but I remembered my joy from finding little specks of fake gold back in elementary school. I was sold. My friend and I went in and was greeted by missionaries wearing period clothing. Um okay. That was weird but the cool AC convinced me to give it a go and I’m glad we continued with the tour.
If all museums were this interactive maybe I wouldn’t have to explain to my little sister that Pearl Harbor is in Hawaii and not Japan. Because dayum! Serious bank was put in to this place! Every room you go to has a theme and the paintings and things on the wall act as a screen for videos shot and edited so well that they can probably make it on the History Channel. I enjoyed every moment of it but that might just be because of the AC.
The best part of the tour was the free picture at the end. The picture comes from one of those huge old photography machines. Obviously it’s fake since you can type in your email and everything but my friend and i each took a picture. Then we went to go look for gold. I was probably the oldest one there but hey, it was fun. If you climb up the tower, you can get somewhat a few of Old Town.
Honestly, the people who are complaining that this is nothing more than propaganda need to relax. What do you want? It’s a MORMON museum and it’s free. Are they glorifying the missionaries? Yeah but the people who made the trek out to California really were brave. At no point did i feel like I was compelled to become a Mormon and it’s not like they were constantly trying to stuff their religion down my throat. That said, my friend and I did decide to listen to the soundtrack of «The Book of Mormon» on the car ride home. Hmmm…

Loving history, especially military and colonial history, I really wanted to like this, but this was not history. This was propaganda.
My wife and I were taking a tour of Old Town, and being ridiculously cold and rainy, at least for San Diego, and us dressing for warmer weather, we were building hopping. Many of the tour books recommend the Mormon Battalion History Site for this history, and so we figured, why not try it out?
We walked in, basked in the warmth, and were shuttled into a movie room while the previous tour finished. We made it through about 5 – 10 minutes of the movie before our tour was ready, but most of it revolved around how angelic and persecuted the Mormons were, and G-​d saving them,
The tour was very well built. From a production standpoint, really top notch. The content however was corny and propagandish. I’m not sure if propagandish is a word, but yeah, holy propaganda Batman! Sitting down at the start of the tour, the pictures come alive, talk to you, invite you in, etc. I won’t go into too much detail about the middle part of the tour, but it largely talks about how perfectly angelic the Mormons were, how persecuted they were, and how Brigham Young bargained with the President. There was some dress-​up in there, was which absolutely hilarious since the little girl the tour dressed up did not know a lick of English.
At the end, you can pan for (fool’s) gold, take some family pictures, and get Mormon pamphlets. I was rather disappointed by the lack of history, and the sheer amount of whitewashing.

The production value here is crazy good! I’m not sure how historically accurate it is — seemed like a lot of glorificarion of Mormon soldiers on their trek to the west coast. But if you can look past the religious stuff, the experience was very fun, informative, and interactive!
They mix digital performances, tour guide girls dressed in outfits from the 18^th century, and rooms that look like the desert, a cottage, etc. I even got to dress up as a soldier! Very immersive, such interaction.

This was a fun tour! We’ve driven by here numerous times and never knew this historic site was ever here. The other day as we were walking to Heritage Park, we noticed the cool statue and little waterfall out in the front of this building.
This tour really explores the history of the Mormon Battalion. It’s presented in a unique, interactive way. We started with a short video that gave an overall description of the history here. Then we met our tour guide. The story is told by the characters presented as photos on the wall in this first room. It’s these characters that tell of their difficult journey from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego.
Then we went into the next room that showed another video while the audience sat on logs. Meant to feel like a campsite, the murals and trees in this room are really interesting. The video was good here too. This part of the tour showed how the Mormons were asked to enlist on a volunteer basis. While some volunteered quickly, others were less than enthusiastic. It was a tough decision for many of the people here.
The next part of the tour was about what a soldier would have taken with him on his long journey. We were shown many of the personal items the volunteer would have carried. A young audience member then got the chance to volunteer and put on what a typical soldier would have worn. It was helpful to see just how much one person would have had to carry for 2,000 excruciating miles.
At the end of the tour we’re giving a free picture and the kids had a chance to pan for gold. This was so fun! Everyone had a chance to get to little pieces of «gold» (which was probably pyrite or «fools gold»). We then had a chance to go up to the tower which showed decent views of Old Town. I think panning for gold and seeing the tower had to be our favorite parts of the tour.
This is a unique look at the history of the Mormon Battalion. We really enjoy going to all the Old Town San Diego museums, and this is just another look at the town’s extraordinary history!

I walked in and I got surrounded by young girls in historic clothing :)
They were all nice and cheerful.
My guide was two missionaries girls from Taiwan. Their English was awesome and they seemed very dedicated to their work.
They share the history of the place in very interesting ways. (I am not giving out the detail. just check it out)
That’s all. No religious class or praying. Oh they give you free photo at the end.
It was such a pleasant experience.

Took the tour today in Spanish and found the tour guides Spanish sorely lacking. The fact that the guide was not able to actually speak Spanish fluently made his interactions with the tourist almost painful.
I applaud the fact the the tour was given in Spanish however it is truly counter productive if the tour is given by a person who really can’t speak the language well.
I would strongly suggest that a native Spanish speaker be assigned to give the tour. The opportunity to educate the Spanish speaking public about the Mormon Battalion History was lost when the tour guide wasn’t able to comfortably interact with them.

It is evident that the Mormon Church took great effort and time creating this site. Everything is top notch and beautifully constructed. Although brand new, it does fit in nicely with the rest of Old Town. So nice, in fact, that we had no idea it wasn’t apart of the State Park. Which made us feel a tiny bit mislead. Here’s my experience…
My fiancé and I decided to check out Old Town, specifically to locate a few geocaches. We were on the hunt for a multi-​cache that included several waypoints around the historic town. One in particular, was a WP found at the top of the observation deck. Unsure of how to get to the top we found ourselves at the front door, greeted by a costumed docent (later found to be a missionary). She asked if we had ever been to the site, and we both answered no. Then, without any warning, we were ushered into a room in the main hall with other individuals, apparently all waiting for a tour to begin. There was no signage indicating what we were in store for, so we just went along with the group. We were on a time crunch, so it would have been nice to know the length of the tour.
The technology and development is nicely interactive. They spared no expense. The first room contains several picture frames with projections of individuals speaking. It’s very Haunted Mansion-​esque. But not nearly as fun. The docent interacted with the projections which made it really cheesy. Even the kids in the group seem unimpressed.
We were then led into a second room which was set up like an outdoor tent site. Again, nicely laid out. The large fabric tent «walls» acted as projection screens which showed a 15 min film. It was reminiscent of those Hallmark movies; bland and slow, with quite a bit of artistic liberties thrown about. It became very clear that this film was one-​sided. which was when I realized this wasn’t a State park attraction.
I became a little annoyed with myself that I didn’t see it sooner. But honestly, who knew this existed? I looked around the room wondering how many other people realized this as well. After about 10 minutes, the film seemed to drag on. Kids were restless, babies crying, and I wondered, how much longer would this last? Quite a bit actually. There were 4 more rooms… that we knew of! We didn’t want to make a scene, so gracefully exiting unnoticed became our plan. After 2 more rooms, and 2 more long vignettes, we became paranoid about not finding an exit. (I thought all California buildings had to have Exit signs clearly posted, right?) Half an hour later my fiancé explained to the guide that we had to leave and she showed us an exit. (Again, not clearly marked.) We quickly found our way out of the maze-​like building passing several other tour groups. One couple looked at us with envy, almost as if to say, take us with you!
As we made our way to the exit, we spotted the stairs to the observation deck. They happened to be in the front and completely accessible without even taking the tour. …ugh.

FREE admission~
The museum: Very informative! They are very creative to use animation & videos to tell us about the history. It is definitely not a boring presentation on the screen. Each room is setup with different time of the history. Missionaries will share with us some of the history then we will watch a few minutes of the video.
At the end of the guided tour, they have an area to display the personal items belonged to the soldiers. At the backyard, you can practice the gold panning. On the roof, there is a lookout area, good view of the old town San Diego.
It is walking distance to many restaurants and shops in old town San Diego. If you are in the area, stop by and spend a very educational 45 minutes at Mormom Battalion.
The Parking: Private lot (FREE)

A FREE 40 minute guided tour by missionaries, going from room to room while watching, on a big screen, the story of how a group of Latter Day Saints traveled across the country and landed in San Diego. In addition, the same characters in the film are also in picture frames hanging on the walls in the rooms.
This well delivered tour is fun for just both adults and children. Although the story is told on a big screen, it is also interactive, the pictures on the walls come to life, like on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, the furniture visitors sit on move when a thunder storm moves in during one of the scenes, as well as during the battle scene.
The interactive presentation kept my interest and at the end of the 40 minutes I was wanting more. More is what we got, you can have your photo taken, for free and pan for gold out back.
Be aware that this presentation is presented by and is about the Ladder Day Saints religion, so if you are completely against anything religion, then I suggest you pass on this one.

I loved this tour! It is so well done, like Disney well done. My kids loved it! Excellent production.
The tour lasts about 40 minutes and it tells the story of an LDS group’s journey out to San Diego. You go from room to room. The pictures talk (kids loved that) and they are the same characters in the film. We stop at a base in Missouri and wait out a rain storm. During the time we learn about the soldiers uniforms, weapons, what they ate, etc. Next we go to a campsite in Iowa (I think) and survive a stampede. Then we end up in a courthouse in San Diego.
The whole presentation is so fun and interactive! At the end of the tour you get a free photo and then the kids can learn how to pan for gold, brick making, pump water, and see the beautiful views at the top of a tower (there are nice binoculars up there to use). Also, the kids got to keep a few pieces of «gold» they panned. They loved it!
It is a great time. Very family friendly. And they are not pushy about the religion. Although at the end they offer a card to give your information or a friends info to get contacted by missionaries about the church.
I did have to take off 1 star because they do take major liberties about the historical facts to fit their religious agenda. It’s what the Mormon church does. But you get the overall picture about what happened, even if it’s not that historically accurate.
If you can stomach the religious overtones, it’s a great tour. Very well done. Sister missionaries are very sweet and friendly and great with kids.