We came here via the Pima county library experience passes. You can park in the parking garage adjacent to the museum and get it validated at the front desk. The museum goes in a path around and through the building, starting with the history and background of how AZ became a state, notable people from AZ history and then goes into the history of Geronimo, mining & unionizing. There were various display cases of rocks and minerals. There are exhibits that have some audio, although not all the buttons were working. There is info about how motorized vehicles came to AZ, as well as WWII and information about Mt. Lemmon being an internment camp site. There is a ramp on the eastern entrance that is wheelchair and stroller accessible. However, the upstairs interaction exhibit for kids is not wheelchair/stroller accessible, at least we did not see an elevator. The bathroom did not have a changing table unfortunately for families with kids needing diaper changes... It's a quaint history museum and great opportunity for people to learn more about AZ history. read more

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Highly recommended. This gem of a museum transports one to another time and place. Very well-curated museum with an exceptional collection. Who knew that Studebaker was a wagon maker first?! The ole' West has such an incredibly rich history. read more

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This museum has wonderful displays and collections. They also have frequent chairs or benches to sit on for resting your back! We especially enjoyed the mining section. read more

Visiting from Payson, AZ. Great mining section... Well done! Enjoyed our experience. We'll be back. read more

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I came here on Saturday for their free entry for Arizona Statehood Day. I believe they are offering free admission Feb. 10, and Feb. 13-17. I was pleasantly surprised by how big the museum was and I really enjoyed learning about AZ history. read more

Arizona History Museum - Museums Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Never met a museum we didn't like and the Arizona History Museum is no different. There is so much to see and there are many themed rooms to visit. This is not a quick in/out event. Take the time to absorb what they have to offer. Totally engaging and i know way more about Arizona. On a hot July date being inside is also a big plus. Excellent bathrooms thanks for that. Validated covered parking or metered street parking. read more

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It was smaller than I had expected but it was a wonderful experience with lots of interesting information on the State. Wish they had more information on the parking situation and that they have a parking garage out back. read more

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Never before have I seen a bobcat skin rug! Don't think I'd want one in my house, but it was only one of many interesting relics they have in this museum. I really enjoyed seeing the antique camera as well. My trip was unplanned, but since I was in the area and saw the sign, I wanted to see some Arizona history. That's exactly what I found. read more

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I greatly enjoyed my visit, don't be turned off by the sparseness in front area. there are great exhibits in the back areas. Parking can be a problem and plan for at least 2 hours read more

INCREDIBLE VENUE. First time visiting. Located adjacent to U OF A this museum is worth a visit! Very detailed exhibits re history of AZ with a visiting display of Barry Goldwater at time of review. Mining, genealogy, minerals, culture, history, all presented with exceptional display and content. Sound available on most. The HAM radio display (until 2022) was a big draw for me. Masks mandatory. Provided if needed. Plan on returning with guests and family. read more

Part of the Arizona Historical Society, the museum is a preeminent source for information about the region's past. Grab your visiting seniors and tiny children. It's going to be hours of a brain-expanding, educational experience! To do -- do not use street parking, unless you are planning on a 30 minute visit. Instead, park down the street (heading west, one block) in the UA's Main Gate Garage off of Second and Euclid. There is a lot specifically for museum visitors and, once you pay your fee at the museum counter, you will be provided a slip to exist the parking garage at no cost. Now to the goods. The museum is situated on mostly the ground floor, with an extra mezzanine level. Both are wheelchair and carrier accessible. But, for some reason, you have to ask the receptionist in the lobby if you would like to use the elevator to get to the mezzanine. Back to the offerings. The museum has more than one dozen small sections. You can learn about: John T. Joelser, an architect who designed the original museum, and the 150+ year history of the museum, with a collection of Spanish Colonial silver, photographs, personal items and artwork. The Mexican revolution, and Geronimo. The museum even has several guns Geronomi owned. The Silverbell Artifacts, a collection of several dozen pieces found in the 1920s. The origins of these artifacts are unknown. Some say they provide evidence that a colony of the Holy Roman Empire must have been in the Tucson area during the 8th or 9th century. Fascinating. Arizona's mining history, with an actual replica of an underground mine that is creepy as all get out! With mannequins hiding in the cut and everything! My favorite, though, were the minerals on display. Wulfenite, cerussite, malachite and more. What a treat! How people lived decades upon decades ago. What is apparently obvious is that native folk and the early settlers were teeny-tiny people. The shoes, the beds, the desks -- everything is child sized. The exhibitions obviously have not been updated for years upon years. But it is a treasure trove for researchers and curious minds. The museum's Research Library and Archives is available Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Also know that this is only one of the Arizona Historical Society's museum. Others are found in other parts of Tucson and also in Tempe, Flagstaff and Yuma. Others in Tucson include the Fort Lowell Museum and the Downtown History Museum. Interested in signing up for or gifting a membership? Fees are $50-$1,000, depending on the level you prefer. There's even a household level. Students can sign up for a $25 membership. And bonus: The museum has a lovely courtyard area that is perfect for reading, quiet time and meditation. There is a water fixture that makes a lovely sound, and a small watercourse said to hold Arizona pupfish. I did not spot any during my visit. read more

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Located on campus and there's free validated parking by the museum. The museum itself is pretty extensive and comprehensive. The pen that President Taft used to sign, ratifying AZ as a state, is on display, as well as the gun Geronimo handed over at his surrender. The only thing is that the museum closes at 2pm, which is kind of early. I went after lunch and had to rush through everything. Will definitely return at some point to spend more quality time in each exhibit. read more

My fiancé and I visited this museum on 3/17/2021. We had a good time seeing all of the updated and newly modeled exhibits. Growing up in 520, it was surprising to learn so much about the history of Tucson , it's surrounding areas and how some things came to be. Az history museum was fun, informative and educational in a nicely climate controlled environment. Our family can definitely recommend that you take the time to come and check it out! read more

Arizona History Museum - Museums Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

I was pleasantly surprised how cool this place was. Wish I could have stayed longer but I had to run, so many cool exhibits to see. 10/10 recommend read more

We had the opportunity to take an hour and a half and wander through the Arizona History Museum this week, and I'm glad we did. I enjoyed my time there more than I thought I would. I do think the museum needs some work, however. First off, all of the employees we interacted with were nice, especially the woman running the "interactive" portion in the upstairs rooms. She was very friendly and interested in answering any questions we had. The museum itself is larger than I thought it would be, but it's laid out a little bit strangely, with dead ends here and there. Not a big deal, but it could be better. The flow of the information works well enough, in my opinion. There are clearly some gaps in historical information given in the exhibits and some lack of details, but there's an ok overall explanation of AZ/Tucson history. It's good enough. Many exhibits need work, however. There were a few with signs fallen over, so I didn't know what I was looking at because I couldn't see what they said. Many exhibits (ones without artifacts) were coated in dust. There were various pieces of building equipment just sitting in the middle of rooms. The place just seems to need a little bit more TLC. The best part of the museum is definitely the replica mine they have built in. It was fun to walk through. Some of the interactive displays seemed like they would be fun for kids, too. And I always enjoy seeing artifacts of different times, of which they have many. The prices are also very reasonable at $5 for adults. I think that $5 was definitely well spent. And it's more convenient to get to now with the streetcar. The stop is right around the corner. So is this the best museum? No. But it is a decent museum, especially for people who just like spending time in museums. It could be quite a bit better if they'd tidy it up a little bit, but I'd still go back as is. Maybe not this year, but I'll definitely go back some time in the future. And I'm happy we have this museum in our city. read more

I took my three boys (ages 11 and under) to the museum as part of a cub scout activity. We were a very small crowd hoping to get some exposure to Arizona's past. While there were many great displays and some good information - and as another reviewer mentioned, a wonderful quilt exhibit going on - there really was quite a bit lacking about native Americans in the area. The only real displays regarding native Americans focused on Geronimo, and his surrender. Growing up in Missouri, I was used to hearing more about the natives and their way of life, and some displays on the merging of the two (not always a pleasant experience) to help provide info on the full history, not just 1800 - 1900. The first part of the museum was overrun by quilts - the current exhibit. Wonderful quilts with a little "story" for each one. The details and colors were wonderful. The mining area was really cool and fascinated the kiddos. The giant drilling machine, sorting machines, and the walk in "cave" were all fun and well done. Upstairs was a hands on area - clothes to dress up in, a general store with some checkers to play, a wicker hut that kids could climb in, and more. It's one thing to describe what a bed might feel like in the "old days" but to sit on one was another thing entirely. Thank you, Temperpedic, for your space age materials. And thank you bakeries for making me delicious soft bread because I'm pretty sure I'd have starved to death if I had to cook "off the land" way back when. They had an old transportation section with old cars, carriages, saddles, and more. Kids loved all that and many pictures were taken. The old "bar/saloon" was pretty cool, too. I wish it had been "interactive" as having people sit at the bar while someone pretended to serve drinks would have been a lot of fun. Last was a section devoted to the turn of the century - mock rooms that showed typical bedrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and more. There were displays of mannequins wearing styles of the day, and gadgets and tools as well. Sadly, they were all behind a large wall of plexiglass. There was SO much stuff behind there it was really hard to see it all, and the lighting was nice and soft - but that means a bit dark. Or put simply, it was hard to see all of the good stuff back there. I'm no historian, but I've lived 40 and three quarters years so I know a bit about history. At least my own. At least the parts I can remember. And so I feel qualified to make two suggestions. First, add some native American history. Please. It just *should* be there. Second, break up that area with the Victorian dresses and hodgepodge of gadgets/devices/tools and put some more of it in either individual cases, or just on shelves where people can get closer to it. Thank you. read more

Great collection. Lots of exhibits. Good documentation of the history of Arizona. Some wonderful examples left from early residents. Well preserved. read more

Very interesting and much larger than I thought it would be. Spent several hours in the museum.

It's has too much of that yard sale museum look, too many items displayed with too little context. The Geronimo exhibit is interesting, but some of the permananet exhibits feel extremely dated. read more

This place was great to learn about AZ history. It was interactive and the staff love their job, you can tell by the way they interact with the public. The kids loved the hohokam, the 2nd floor interactive history which was a plus. It was a fun time. read more

Great informative experience. Very helpful docents. Don't miss this and it's quick and fun

Really sad museum. I don't think the people who put the displays together have any education with curating. Poor layout and hard to make your way through exhibits. Really needs to be gutted and redone. Save your 5$ and skip this one. read more

What a treasure! We enjoyed the informative displays, interactive exhibits and the fact we were lucky enough to tour the museum while they had a quilt exhibition. It enhanced the surroundings with bright colors and incredible workmanship. The mining display was the best. read more

If you have an interest in history then you'll like this place. They had a lot of interesting big exhibits, and just the little odds and ends type stand alone exhibits gave information that I had not seen before, and I've visited quite a few museums that's main focus on the the very early 1900s and before. My favorite exhibit here was their upstairs 1870s life in and around Tucson, where they displayed what the homes, work, and daily lives of three different families would be like. The enormous mine replica display was fascinating also, as well. If any of this stuff interest you then, it's worth the trip. read more

I definitely do not recommend. Te museum needs updating. It is not laid out well and has several dead ends. It was not very interesting. The transportation exhibit like most ended in 2000. The mining exhibit was, comparatively, the most interesting. read more