Mormon Battalion Visitors Center
When members of the Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego, Calif., in January 1847, they found a quiet village whose residents were eager to put them to work. The soldiers earned money by building San Diego's first courthouse, a kiln in which they made 40,000 bricks, a blacksmith shop and bakery, and by digging 20 wells. In 1973, the Church built a visitors center at 2510 Juan St. in Old Town, near the intersection of I-5 and I-8. Old Town is a collection of stores and attractions representing the original business district of San Diego.
The visitors center features battalion artifacts, a statue of a battalion member, a diorama of the battalion's march and a 25-minute film about the battalion. Nearby Presidio Park also features a statue and several plaques about the battalion. Last year, 87,000 people visited the center, including several thousand local school children.
