Saturday, October 24, 2009

Tucson's Tin Town - the mining museum you never heard of


Local geologist extraordinaire Dawn Garcia celebrated her birthday last night with a barbecue dinner for friends, neighbors, and co-workers at Tin Town, just south of the UA campus in Tucson. Tin Town hosts the most amazing collection of old mining, Western, and Arizona memorabilia you can imagine, along with thousands of other interesting objects the owners have collected over decades.

Tin Town does not advertise. They host weddings and other special events by word of mouth and will open up for private tours. The acre plus setting morphed out of an old market converted into the main house, but now includes a circus wagon, jail, mine and ore tram, and on and on, all flowing in and out of the main house. Every square inch is packed with 'stuff' and it continues overhead with every surface covered by old signs, tools hanging from pegs, and equipment stacked up on the rafters.

Even the 25-years veterans of Tucson admitted they had never even heard of Tin Town let alone tour it.

Thanks to Dawn and Kevin for hosting a great event and introducing us all to the wonders of Tin Town. You can find it at 850 East 7th Street, Tucson. You'll recognize the pink fence and walls, and the giant pieces of mining equipment that serve as avant garde art pieces along the street.

1 comment:

  1. Richard Franco3:37 PM

    Tin-Town is big part of my families history. My Paternal Grand Parents raised their family in this little unknown town. My Father was born there in 1920 as was my Aunt and Uncle. In all four aunts and two uncles were raised there before moving to California in the early thirties. I havent found much on Tin-Town in records or on Maps. But this piece is very rewarding to read...

    ReplyDelete