Shaping Arizona is our new exhibit coming to the Arizona History Museum on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Learn about this unique exhibit directly from AHS Exhibits Supervisor/Curator, Vanessa Fajardo: What is this exhibit about? “This exhibit highlights how the state of Arizona gained its current shape and how that influences us today. The land and […]

The 2023 Arizona Historical Society Wrapped is out now!🎉 Take a look at some AHS highlights throughout this year. Thank YOU for all of your support through the years. We can’t wait to see what 2024 holds for us. 

Established in 1973, MetroCenter, a regional shopping district located in northwest Phoenix, was designed by the architectural firm Flatow, Moore, Bryan and Fairburn. Its impressive two-story, enclosed shopping mall was accessible through a massive 7,000-space parking lot and by prominent tenant signage. Boasting its status as one of the largest shopping malls in the United […]

From where we stand today, it’s hard to understand how prominent railroads used to be in the public imagination. But starting in the 1820s and for at least a century thereafter, railroads both enabled and symbolized a multitude of transformations in American society. Those changes were wrought in politics, business, labor, and leisure, and they […]

Juneteenth Celebration at the Arizona Heritage Center on June 18, 2023 Brings Community Members and Local Organizations Together The 2023 Annual Juneteenth Celebration will be held at the Arizona Heritage Center in Tempe from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 18, 2023 The Arizona Historical Society (AHS) will host their Annual Juneteenth Celebration […]

José María Redondo is one of Arizona’s most famous and accomplished citizens. Born 1830 in Sonora, Mexico, Redondo left an upper-class lifestyle at the age of 19 to mine for gold in modern Southern Arizona and California. He was a natural entrepreneur and businessman and after a decade of overseeing successful mining operations, Redondo took […]

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, bringing word that the war had ended and the enslaved people of the Gulf Coast island were free. Celebrations of June 19th – known early on as “Emancipation Day” or “Jubilee Day,” and later, “Juneteenth” – began in Texas soon after, spreading to other communities […]

When you think about Chinese people in Arizona or the West, what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s the iconic Dragon Gate marking the entrance to San Francisco’s Chinatown. Maybe you recall something from an Arizona history class in high school about how the Chinese helped build the railroads. Or maybe it’s a glimpse of Chinese […]

Important Update: June 30, 2020 As of June 30, 2020, the Arizona Historical Society has temporarily closed the Arizona History Museum and Arizona Heritage Center. Please read the latest news posted on June 30. — June 5, 2020 The Arizona Historical Society is excited to welcome you back into our museums. For more than 150 […]