Tucson, AZ -- The Fort Lowell Museum will reopen on September 5 after being closed for the summer. Operating hours will be Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm. Staff have recently been busy reorganizing exhibits and creating new ones.
New to the museum is an orientation room where visitors will be able to see a timeline of the area dating back from the Hohokam (500 C.E.) to the present time. “This will help give visitors context for what they are looking at in the museum,” said Kate Avalos, director of interpretive programming.
An exhibit covering the Apache’s history and culture, as well as Apache scouts, expands on the information previously presented at the museum. This exhibit is housed in its own room, where exhibits about Fort Lowell laundresses and the telegraph were previously located. “These exhibits have been moved closer to other exhibits that better relate to them,” explained Avalos.
Another new exhibit on display features information about Buffalo Soldiers. It is located in the Cavalry and Infantry Gallery.
Later this fall or winter, the museum will open a re-creation of the isolation ward of the Fort Lowell Hospital. It will be located in the building south of the main museum and will interpret the hospital, military medicine, and the treatment of diseases.
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 commanding 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 Wednesdays through Saturdays. Admission to the museum is $3/person and free for those five and younger. Fort Lowell and Presidio Museum members are free.
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