quartzsite museum

Great little museum located right in the middle of Quartzsite. Actually called the Tyson Wells Museum. Has artifacts from the early days of the area including when it was southern Arizona's mining center. These include school house exhibit and the Margarita Mining Assay Office. When in Quartzsite, check out this cute attraction.

I was attracted to this museum because admission is free, and I didn't know much about the history of Quartzsite, Arizona. (There was a sign or two saying that donations are accepted. However, there was no basket, bowl, or jar into which a donation could be placed. I would have gladly turned over a dollar or two, had there been a receptacle.)Parking is in the back of the museum complex, and there's not much of it. I was the first one in this morning, but when I left, there were several large vehicles parked back there. Getting out was a little tricky. Thankfully, another visitor guided me out. The outlying buildings include an outhouse, a bunkhouse, and an office. I think the caretaker unlocked them after I arrived, but I didn't peek into any of them.Also on display were rock covered, to-scale replica buildings made by a past resident of the town. The replicas were...interesting, but I'm not really sure about their historical relevance. Items like these give the museum a catch-all sort of feel, as if any item having any connection whatsoever to Quartzsite might end up here. I enjoyed looking at old photographs (reproductions, mostly) of the people and places of historic Quartzsite. (Who doesn't get a kick out of seeing at what Main Street of any town looked like before the automobile?) There were plenty of old items displayed, but historical relevance was not often explained. Were the mannequins wearing actual old clothes or just reproductions? What was the time period of the fashions? Who knows? Not the casual visitor to this museum. I think kids would probably get bored pretty fast here, especially younger kids who don't read (or read well) yet. Adults might be able to interpret some of the displays for youngsters, but I wouldn't expect little ones to stay interested and well-behaved for very long.I'm glad this museum exists, and I did enjoy looking around, but the Quartzsite Historical Society should probably step up their game,