Pioneer Museum

Pioneer Museum and 1929 Baldwin Locomotive

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.

  • Take a photo with the 1929 Baldwin Locomotive No. 12 used in Northern Arizona’s logging industry
  • Explore the wooded grounds to find a 1913 Model T and historic farm equipment
  • Experience stories of trailblazing individuals who dared to drive change in Flagstaff
  • Examine a 1950s Iron Lung ventilator used to treat polio patients

Pioneer Museum is Temporarily Closed.

Join us for the following virtual programs:

08oct12:00 pm1:00 pmComics, Truth and Justice with Dr. Rhiannon Koehler (Virtual)

12nov12:00 pm1:00 amMexican Americans, Schools, and the Law with Dr. Laura Muñoz (Virtual)

There are no events on the calendar at this time.

Featured Exhibits

A Journey of a Gap Year

A Journey of a Gap Year

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.

Permanent Exhibits

The Hospital

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.

Becoming Flagstaff: Stories from the High Country

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.

The Grounds

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.

Education

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.

Education Team Contact Form

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Facility Rental Program at Pioneer Museum in Flagstaff

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.

Pioneer Museum Gift ShopThe 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!

 

Sponsors

Pioneer Museum is supported in part by a grant from the City of Flagstaff and the Flagstaff Arts Council. Education programs at Pioneer Museum are supported in part by the Northern Arizona Pioneers’ Historical Society with a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation of Flagstaff.
Arizona Historical Society
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