HISTORICALATTRACTIONS / REGIONAL MUSEUMS
Amerind Foundation
2100 North Amerind Road
Dragoon 520-586-3666
www.amerind.org
Private, nonprofit archaeological research facility and museum focuses on Native American cultures in a variety of displays and exhibits.
Arizona Folklore Preserve
44 Ramsey Canyon Road
Hereford 520-378-6165
www.arizonafolklore.com
Operated by Dolan Ellis, Arizona’s official balladeer, the center preserves the folklore tradition of Arizona through personal performances by Ellis and guests from cowboy poets to fiddlers.
Arizona Historical Society Museum
949 E. Second Street
Tucson 520-628-5774
www.azhs.gov
Serving as the AHS state headquarters and affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute, the museum presents permanent and changing exhibits that interpret and preserve the region’s history.
Arizona State Museum
University of Arizona
1013 E. University Boulevard
Tucson 520-621-6302
www.statemuseum.arizona.edu
Affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute, ASM is the oldest and largest anthropology museum in the region. The museum brings to life the culture history of the Greater Southwest from the mammoth hunters to the present. The collections on Southwest anthropology are among the nation’s finest.
Asarco Mineral Discovery Center
Pima Mine Road
Tucson 520-625-7513
www.mineraldiscovery.com
Displays of mining equipment and exhibits explaining mining and mine reclamation include a multimedia theater.
Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum
No. 5 Copper Queen Plaza
Bisbee 520-432-7071
https://bisbeemuseum.org/bm-museum.aspx
Located in the century-old former headquarters of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company, this tribute to the mining industry was the nation’s first small rural museum to become affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute.
Center for Creative Photography
University of Arizona
1030 N. Olive Road
Tucson 520-621-7968
www.creativephotography.org
One of the world’s most comprehensive collections complements changing photographic exhibits drawn from archives of major 20th century photographers and traveling shows.
Chiricahua Regional Museum & Research Center
127 E. Maley Street
Willcox 520-384-3971
Displays focus on the history of Willcox and the surrounding area to include Native American Chiefs Geronimo and Cochise, the early pioneers, Maley Tent City, and the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s.
Fort Huachuca Museum
U.S. Army Garrison
Fort Huachuca 520-533-3638
https://www.facebook.com/huachucamuseum
Exhibits and displays chronicle the fascinating history of the U.S. Army in the Southwest.
Fort Lowell Museum
Fort Lowell Park
2900 North Craycroft
Tucson 520-885-3832
www.azhs.gov
Operated by the Arizona Historical Society, the museum offers a glimpse of an 1880s military post, changing exhibits, and special programs.
Johnson Historical Museum of the Southwest
Slaughter Ranch
6153 Geronimo Trail
Douglas 520-558-2474
This turn-of-the-century National Historic Landmark encompasses a ranch house, an ice house, a wash house, a granary and commissary, a carriage shed, and a natural spring and pond on 300 acres. This site was used for filming Disney movies during the 1950s.
International Wildlife Museum
4800 W. Gates Pass Road
Tucson 520-629-0100
www.thewildlifemuseum.org
Dioramas depicting hundreds of mammals, insects, birds, and prehistoric animals from around the globe are displayed in a 38,000-square-foot replica of a French Foreign Legion Fort in Africa’s Sahara Desert.
La Pilita Museum Gallery
420 S. Main Avenue
Tucson 520-882-7454
Nestled in Barrio Viejo, this small museum and gallery features changing exhibits and a permanent historic photo display of early Tucson.
Museum of Art
University of Arizona
Park Avenue & Speedway
Tucson 520-621-7567
http://artmuseum.arizona.edu
Permanent exhibits include an extensive collection of Renaissance and later European and American art.
The Museum of the Horse Soldier
6541 East Tanque Verde Road
Tucson 520-296-4551
www.traildusttown.com
Located in Trail Dust Town, this museum displays one of the nation’s finest private collections of original U.S. cavalry artifacts, equipment, and memorabilia.
Pima Air & Space Museum
6000 E. Valencia Road
Tucson 520-618-4800
www.pimaair.org
Aviation history is the focus of displays that feature more than 200 vintage aircraft. Five hangars on 85 acres exhibit military, civilian, and commercial aircraft from a replica of Wright Flyer to SR-71 Blackbird. Experience flight in a full-motion simulator at the Challenger Learning Center.
Postal History Foundation
920 North First Avenue
Tucson 520-623-6652
www.postalhistoryfoundation.org
Serving as a hub of postal research and education in the Southwest, the museum is distinguished as one of the West’s largest and finest facilities dedicated to postal history. The Foundation is also the only philatelic museum that operates an extensive youth education program.
Rex Allen Cowboy Museum & Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame
150 N. Railroad Avenue
Willcox 520-384-4583
www.rexallenmuseum.org
Displays focus on the life of Rex Allen, a native of Willcox who enjoyed a 35-year career in radio, film, music recordings, television, and narration for over 100 Disney films. A Cowboy Hall of Fame exhibit revolves around the history of local cattle ranching.
San Pedro Valley Arts & Historical Museum
180 S. San Pedro Street
Benson 520-586-3070
www.azhs.gov
Displays interpret Benson’s history as a railroad town in a restored historic grocery store. Collections include photographs and artifacts related to ranching, mining, and railroading.
Southern Arizona Transportation Museum
414 N. Toole Avenue
Tucson 520-623-2223
www.tucsonhistoricdepot.org
Exhibits interpret the history of transportation in Southern Arizona with a focus on the Tucson Historic Depot and Steam Locomotive #1673.
The 390th Memorial Museum
6000 East Valencia Road
Tucson 520-574-0287
www.390th.org
Preserves the proud heritage of the original cadre and support teams of the 390th Bombardment Group, completing 300 missions in World War II that dropped 19,000 tons of bombs to destroy or damage more than 535 enemy aircraft.
Titan Missile Museum
1580 W. Duval Mine Road
Green Valley 520-618-4800
www.pimaair.org
The world’s only ICBM site features a Titan II missile in the launch silo. The complex offers exhibits above and below the ground depicting the Cold War era. Experience a simulated launch sequence and visually view the “fail safe” two-key system of protection.
Tucson Museum of Art & Historic Block
140 N. Main Avenue
Tucson 520-624-2333
https://tucsonmuseumofart.org
Pre-Columbian artifacts and Western American art combine with Spanish Colonial and 20th century European and American art. John K. Goodman Pavilion showcases Western American and related art.
