Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park |
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The warehouse at Yuma Quartermasters Depot State Historic Park
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 Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park
Location in Arizona
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| Location | Yuma, Arizona, United States |
| Elevation | 120 ft (37 m) |
| Established | 1997 |
| Governing body | Arizona State Parks |
Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park is a cool place to visit in Yuma, Arizona. It used to be called Yuma Crossing State Historic Park. This park is part of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This park was once a very important supply center in the 1870s. It was called the Yuma Quartermaster Depot. Supplies were brought here from the Gulf of California by boat. Then, they were stored and sent out to army forts in the desert areas of the Southwestern United States.
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History of the Yuma Quartermaster Depot
The Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park is built on the land where the old Yuma Quartermaster Depot used to be. The U.S. Army created this depot in 1864. Its job was to store and send out supplies to army posts. These posts were in places like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.
The depot always made sure there were enough supplies for six months. This included important things like ammunition, food, and clothes. These goods came from California by ships. The ships sailed all the way around the Baja California peninsula to the Gulf of California. Then, they went up the Colorado River to Port Isabel, Sonora.
From there, supplies were loaded onto river boats. These boats carried them up the Colorado River to Yuma. Once in Yuma, the supplies were stored safely at the Quartermaster Depot.
The supplies from the depot were sent all over the Southwest. They traveled by river boat or by mule team wagons. The depot even had stables for up to 900 mules!
But things changed when the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Yuma in 1877. The railroad made it much easier to move supplies. So, the depot was no longer needed. When the railroad reached Tucson in 1880, the Yuma depot closed. The army's supply team moved to Fort Lowell in Tucson.
After the army left, other groups used the site. The Signal Corps (who dealt with communications) stayed there from 1875 to 1891. Then, the U.S. Weather Service used the depot site until 1949.
Over the years after 1949, the Yuma Quartermaster Depot became quite run down. Some parts were used by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other government groups.
Becoming a Historic Park
Today, five of the original buildings from the old depot are still at the park. People started thinking about making it a historic park in the early 1960s. The state bought the depot quartermaster's office in 1969. More land was added in 1980.
In 1986, the city of Yuma bought the land from the United States Department of the Interior. They then gave it to the state park system. Work on the park began that same year.
The park first opened in 1990. It was part of the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. In 1997, it officially became its own state historic park. A group called the Yuma Crossing Foundation helped manage it.
The Yuma Crossing Foundation worked with the state parks board. They wanted to make the site a living history museum. After seven years of building and fixing things, the park opened to the public in 1997. It was first called Yuma Crossing State Historic Park. In 2007, its name was changed to Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park. This new name shows what the area was originally used for.
As of 2014, the park also has a special train car. It's called the Southern Pacific Railroad Passenger Coach Car-S.P. X7. This car is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Park Facilities and Exhibits
Visitor Center
The Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park is more than just a historic site. It's also home to the Yuma Visitors Bureau Visitor Information Center. Both the park and the visitor center are open all year.
The visitor center has displays about the park's military past in the late 1800s. It also shows the history of work done by the Bureau of Reclamation in the 1900s. There's also a gift shop where you can buy books and souvenirs.
Historic Exhibits
Four of the five original buildings at the park have cool historic exhibits.
- The storehouse tells the story of the Colorado River and the steamboats that used to travel on it. It also shows how mule wagon trains worked.
- The office of the depot quartermaster has two exhibits. One shows what the depot looked like when it was busy. The other shows how the weather and telegraph stations appeared.
- The commanding officers quarters is like a house museum. It looks just like it would have in the 1870s, when army officers and their families lived there.
- The corral house has an exhibit about the different kinds of fish that live in the Colorado River.
Outside the buildings, you can see other exhibits. These include ramadas (shaded areas), an old steam boiler, a stone reservoir, and a display of wagons.
The park is a great place for a picnic. There are picnic tables all around the park. You can also reserve a shaded area for group use if you plan ahead.
