Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum facts for kids
The Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum was a cool place in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a museum all about minerals and mining. It had over 3,000 minerals, rocks, fossils, and old tools from the mining world. The museum closed in May 2011. But good news! In April 2017, a new law was passed. It plans to reopen the museum under the University of Arizona!
Museum History
The museum started way back in 1884. It was a temporary display at Arizona's first big fair. People loved the exhibit so much! In 1919, it moved into its own building at the fairgrounds.
It was only open during state fairs until 1953. Then, six mining companies in Arizona gave money. This helped the museum open all year round. It became a formal museum. In 1991, the museum moved to a new spot. The old building was getting old and couldn't protect the items well.
The new home was the former El Zaribah Shrine Auditorium. It was later renamed the Polly Rosenbaum Building. This honored Polly Rosenbaum, a state leader. She helped get the historic building for the museum.
Museum Closure
In 2010, the Arizona Historical Society took over the museum. They wanted to change it into a history museum. It would open for Arizona's 100th birthday in 2012. This new museum would be called the Arizona Centennial Museum.
The idea was to focus on "Arizona's Five C's." These were cattle, copper, cotton, citrus, and climate. Supporters thought they would need $9 million to make this happen. This money would come from private donations.
In August 2010, the historical society met. They found that taking over the museum was harder than expected. Many items in the museum were on loan. Some of these valuable items were worth a lot of money. The museum was responsible for them if they got lost or damaged.
The museum closed suddenly in May 2011. It was supposed to stay open longer. But it closed a month early. Employees and school groups were not told in advance. Some parts of the collection might be shown in the new Arizona Experience Museum.
Amazing Collection
The museum's collection had many cool minerals. You could see minerals from famous Arizona mining spots. There were also pieces from Arizona copper mines. One piece of native copper was 8 feet (2.4 m) long!
You could also see displays on lapidary arts. This is the art of cutting and polishing stones. There were shiny gemstones and smooth cabochons. These were all made from Arizona minerals.
The museum also taught about how minerals form. It showed different crystal shapes and colors. You could even see fluorescent minerals that glowed!
Some really unique items included:
- A 206-pound (93 kg) piece of the Meteor Crater meteorite.
- Fulgurites, which are tubes made by lightning striking sand.
- A huge quartz geode split in half. Each half weighed 240 pounds (110 kg)!
- Real Moon rocks!
- Bowls and spheres made from semi-precious stones.
Outside the museum, you could see large pieces of mining equipment. These were from both old and new mines.
- A head frame from a mine in Bisbee.
- A small steam railroad locomotive from 1882. It was used at a mine in Morenci.
- A stamp mill and two rail cars.
- A giant 13-foot (4.0 m) truck tire.
- A huge 27-cubic-yard (21 m3) bucket from a shovel. This was used in the copper mine at Ray.
There was also a special room with items donated by Rose Mofford. She was the governor of Arizona when the museum moved. Her collection included minerals and kachina dolls. Rose Mofford was a big supporter of the museum.
