Pioneer Museum is temporarily closed while we grow our team of local educators and historians.
On Select Dates, the Pioneer Museum will be Open and Free to the Public when they are Listed Below.
Updated 10/3
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Pioneer Museum is Temporarily Closed
Please stay tuned for reopening news.
Admission:
AHS Members: Free
General Admission: $10.00
Seniors (65+): $9.00
Veterans/Active Duty Military: $9.00
Youth (7-13): $5.00
Children 6 and younger: Free
Accessibility Parking
In 2018, the Coconino County Hospital for the Indigent, now the Pioneer Museum celebrates its 110th birthday. Accessible parking and access to the first floor of the museum is available on the West side of the building immediately adjacent to the museum.
Public Transportation
We are conveniently located just outside of Flagstaff on Highway 180 on the way to Grand
Canyon. Mountain line buses stop directly in front of the museum. We are on Route 5, Orange, Stop Number 11. https://mountainline.az.gov/
Passenger Load/Unload Zone
Passengers may be loaded or unloaded at the front of the museum.
Parking
A small parking lot is directly West of the museum. There are numerous other parking areas to the East and North of the Museum.
Wheelchairs
A wheelchair is available free of charge at the museum on a first come, first served basis. Please ask at the front desk.
Service Animals
Registered service animals are welcome to the museum. Leashed dogs are welcome on the
Grounds. Please clean up after your pets.
Welcome to Pioneer Museum
Adventure awaits in northern Arizona! Originally built in 1908 as the Coconino County Hospital for the Indigent, make Pioneer Museum your destination to discover Flagstaff history.
Pioneer Museum is Temporarily Closed.
On Select Dates, the Pioneer Museum will be Open and Free to the Public when they are Listed Below.
There are no events on the calendar at this time.
During her gap year from college in upstate New York, Katharine McKenna spent the summers of 1977 and 1978 as an intern at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. She documented her experience by journaling and taking photographs of the 24 trading posts she visited, and the countless miles she traveled through the Navajo and Hopi Nations in Northern Arizona. Journey of a Gap Year is an exhibition of her photography, with artifacts from Katharine and the Arizona Historical Society’s collections. This exhibit will be on display until September of 2024.
Inside what was once the hospital’s operating and recovering rooms, you will find information about how the indigent were cared for at the Poor Farm from 1908 until the 1930s.
Discover the history of Flagstaff’s beginning, growth, and ongoing cultural evolution. Find artifacts and stories from Indigenous peoples, transcontinental travelers, homesteaders, Great Migrators, and immigrants from across land and sea.
Visitors are introduced to the Pioneer Museum by two impressive artifacts: a 1929 Baldwin articulated locomotive used in logging operations with tender and log car and a Santa Fe RR caboose dating from the 1940’s. Visitors can enter the caboose and view an exhibit on the train personnel who would have lived in it when it was riding the rails. The historic 1908 Doney Cabin was relocated to Pioneer Museum from east of Flagstaff. Visitors can explore the one-room cabin and learn about Ben Doney, the colorful local character who built it. The grounds also house our heirloom garden, a 1915 Model T, many pieces of farm equipment, a chuck wagon, and a La France fire engine that saved Riordan Mansion from a devastating fire in 1921.
School field trips and group tours at all Arizona Historical Society Museums are currently on hold. Please use the form below to contact our Museum Educators to ask questions, discuss options for virtual classroom visits, and find resources.
On a forested terrace overlooking Fort Valley Road, the Pioneer Museum property offers a rustic, down-home backdrop for your special event. Whether you are looking for a country barn setting or an outdoor experience among the ponderosa pine trees and homestead-era cabins, the museum, built in 1908 as the Coconino County Hospital for the Indigent, and its 3-acre grounds provide an intimate, country feel to any life celebration. The Pioneer Museum is perfect for small gatherings of up to 60 people.
Visit our Facility Rentals Guide for more details.
The Pioneer Museum Gift Shop offers the perfect gift or souvenir. Step into the past with old-time toys or stay contemporary with a remembrance of one of our current exhibits. We offer something for every age group and interest. Heck, we’ll even sell you a beer or glass of wine!
