Qualla: Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum

Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum: Introduction

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carol M. Highsmith, CC0. Rose Mofford, the former Arizona governor with the signature beehive hairdo, made her feelings clear: if the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum ever closed, she would have her collection scattered to rural museums across the state rather than let it disappear into bureaucratic limbo. In May 2011, the museum did close. Mofford's mineral specimens, her kachina dolls, and more than 3,000 other rocks, fossils, and mining artifacts joined a collection that had been captivating Arizonans since 1884, now locked away in a building that sits largely empty. The story of this museum is the story of Arizona itself - born from copper and ambition, sustained by passionate advocates, and ultimately caught in the machinery of state politics.

Image: Carol M. Highsmith | CC0

Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum: From Territorial Fair to Institution

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carol M. Highsmith, CC0. Arizona was still a territory when the collection began. In 1884, a temporary mineral exhibit at the first territorial fair proved so popular that organizers knew they had touched something essential about the land and its people. The exhibit moved into a permanent building on th...

Image: Carol M. Highsmith | CC0

Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum: Polly's Building

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carol M. Highsmith, CC0. Polly Rosenbaum served in the Arizona legislature for more than four decades, making her the state's longest-serving lawmaker. When the mineral museum needed a proper home, she championed the effort to secure the former El Zaribah Shrine Auditorium in downtown Phoenix. The histor...

Image: Carol M. Highsmith | CC0

Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum: Five Cs and a Closure

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carol M. Highsmith, CC0. In 2010, the Arizona Historical Society took control of the museum under new state legislation. The plan was ambitious: convert the mineral museum into an Arizona Centennial Museum celebrating the state's Five Cs - cattle, copper, cotton, citrus, and climate - in time for the Feb...

Image: Carol M. Highsmith | CC0

Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum: A Collection in Limbo

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carol M. Highsmith, CC0. Years passed with the museum's fate unresolved. The Arizona Republic published an opinion piece titled 'Top museum closed for nothing.' Supporters maintained a blog called Mineral Museum Madness, documenting the ongoing saga. Finally, in April 2017, legislation passed to reopen t...

Image: Carol M. Highsmith | CC0