Tucson and the outlying Southern Arizona area have plenty of museums to keep you cool on a hot afternoon. We have written reviews, stories and events on several of them below. Many are of interest to kids. You may access these features from the Table of Contents below or scroll down to browse the excerpts.
See our article on History Museums here.
We have several videos on the most prominent of these museums. Use the Arrows to scroll through these videos.
Scroll down to peruse our posts on the museums. There are several pages, just click on the page number at the bottom or an excerpt to view more information on the museum of interest.
“Eyedazzlers”, Navajo Rugs, Now At Tucson Desert Art Museum
Those of us who live in the vastness of the Sonoran Desert share this land with two sovereign nations: the Republic of Mexico and the Tohono O’odham Nation. The Tohono O’odham Nation is the second largest American Indian reservation in the United States: 4,344 square miles. The largest belongs to the Navajo: a whopping 27,000 square miles, including a large chunk of Northern Arizona, and smaller pieces of New Mexico and Utah. The Tohono O’odham … Continue reading
A Day Trip to Ft. Huachuca
Christmas week 2015 – Jim, Ms. Sue and I (Ms. Karen) headed out to Ft. Huachuca to visit their museums and cemetery, approximately 1.25 hours from Tucson.
Continue readingA Museum of Miniatures Holiday Adventure
When Ms. Karen’s brother and sis-in-law came to visit us over Thanksgiving, we chose to visit the Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures on the Friday after. For those of you who have not been, The Museum of Miniatures is a magical place full of enchanting miniature houses, castles, and assorted spaces. We chose to go to see what Wee Winter Wonderland was all about. The event had just opened for the season. After paying … Continue reading
A Tour of Biosphere 2
Ms. Karen and I left our home in Tucson and headed north to Biosphere 2, a 3-acre laboratory of glass domes near Oracle that houses five different ecosystems and was designed as a prototype of a space colony in the early 90’s. Today, it is a tourist attraction and a research center, primarily to study the effects of climate change. The tour takes about an hour and a half including the 10 minute introductory film … Continue reading
A Visit To The Cochise Hotel, Cochise AZ
It was a Sunday in mid-September when Ms. Karen and I left our home in the Tucson Mountains to travel to the Cochise Hotel to visit with the proprietor, Phil Gessert. We arrived at noon and Phil was sitting on the front porch waiting for us. The Cochise Hotel is the oldest hotel in Arizona and, I must say, it looks the part. It sits across the tracks from the active railroad midway between Benson … Continue reading
AHS Fort Lowell Museum
The Fort Lowell Museum is located in the reconstructed Commanding Officer’s quarters of Old Fort Lowell, originally established in 1873. The museum features exhibits about military life on the Arizona frontier with particular emphasis on the Apache Wars.
Continue readingAHS Tucson Downtown History Museum
The Arizona Historical Society’s Tucson History Museum is about life in early Tucson. This is a small but very worthwhile museum if you want to understand the history and cultural heritage of Tucson.
Continue readingAmerind Foundation & Museum
The Amerind Museum is an internationally acclaimed Museum and research facility located between Benson and Willcox. The museum boasts an impressive collection of Native American artifacts as well as paintings by western artists. Nestled in Texas Canyon, the old Spanish Revival Museum is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Indian artifacts. Founded by archaeologist William Shirley Fulton in 1937, the Amerind was named such in a concatenation of the words, American and … Continue reading
Apache May: An Indian Girl On The Slaughter Ranch
“Texas” John Slaughter was the sheriff who cleaned up Cochise County after the Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday left Arizona. He was as tough as they come and, among the outlaw class, earned the moniker “that wicked little gringo”. As despised and feared as he was by the outlaws, he was highly respected and much appreciated by the law-abiding ranchers, merchants, and miners. In 1896, ten years after Geronimo’s final surrender, some disgruntled Apaches left … Continue reading
Arizona State Museum
The Arizona State Museum celebrates the cultures of the Southwest. Native American blankets, baskets, and pottery. One of the finest collections of gems and minerals anywhere. While located just inside the University of Arizona campus just inside Main Gate, it is not part of the University but a State Museum. Visit the website at: Arizona State Museum Website 1013 E. University Blvd. To learn about more worthwhile museums in Tucson, whether art, history, science, or … Continue reading
