[1][2] The new museum, constructed of red brick, has 11,000 square feet of display space and a large lower level.

It opened at the end of 1996 with a preview of partially completed exhibits and that year's gingerbread house display.

[4][5][6] The dedication was part of that year's sesquicentennial celebration of Brigham Young's Vanguard Company leaving Winter Quarters, trekking across the United States, and arriving in Mexico's Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

In 1998 a life-sized statue of a Mormon handcart family was placed on a round, concrete pedestal in front of the museum.

The second phase, titled "At the Bluff," tells the history of Winter Quarters and surrounding settlements, and the final phase "Gathering to Zion" shares the story of the Mormon Trail from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley.