The Fort Lowell Museum continues to offer fun and history-related activities throughout the month of March. NEW OPERATING HOURS OF 10 AM TO 3 PM WILL BEGIN MARCH 1!
History in the Park: Celebrating Women’s History will take place on Saturday, March 2, from 10 am-1 pm. Celebrate Women’s History Month with some of the ladies who lived at Fort Lowell in the late 1800s, including the sisters and daughters of prominent Tucson merchant William Oury:
**Louise Gerard, wife of post surgeon and prolific artist Joseph Basil Girard
**Lola Smith (pictured above), wife of the quartermaster Gilbert Cole Smith
Learn about the roles women played at Fort Lowell while it was an active fort, including the duties and responsibilities of the post laundress, the woman that kept the troops clean!
This event is included in admission.
The Science of History Family Funday will be held Saturday, March 23, from 10 am-1 pm. Come join us for a series of hands-on activities that will teach how archaeologists and historians use science to understand history. Activities will focus on things such as dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) and c-14 dating (carbon-14 dating). This event is included in admission.
Fort Lowell Neighborhood walking tours will be held on Monday, March 11 and Monday, March 25, from 10 am-12:30 pm. The Fort Lowell area is much more than the territorial fort. If you understand the history of the area, you understand the history of Arizona. Historian and preservationist Ken Scoville leads this tour delving into the cultural layers of Tucson. The oasis of water and trees at the confluence of the Pantano Wash and the Tanque Verde Creek, was a draw for many. As early as the first century AD, the Hohokam farmed the area. In the 19th century, water attracted settlers from Mexico as well as the United States military in 1873. Later, a new wave of farmers came, creating the community of El Fuerte. Artists and dreamers would join in the teens and twenties to restore adobe ruins from the fort. By the 1950s, the automobile and air conditioning would bring huge population growth and pressures for change. Fort Lowell would become a historic district to help preserve this unique area. The cost of the tour is $20/member, and $30/non-member. Pre-registration is required at www.TucsonPresidio.com/walking-tours/.
Fort Lowell was a military supply post active from 1873 to 1891. The museum is located in Fort Lowell Park at 2900 N. Craycroft Rd. in an 1880s reproduction adobe officers’ quarters. Visitors see displays about the purpose and history of the fort, its soldiers and their families, In addition, displays are included about the Apache of the region and the pre-history of the area seen at the nearby Hardy site. The museum is open from 10 am to 3 pm Thursdays through Saturdays. Admission to the museum is $3/person and free for those five and younger and Fort Lowell and Presidio Museum members are free.
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