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Quartzsite · Main Street · History museum

Quartzsite Museum

A free history museum in Charles Tyson’s 1866 adobe stage station, with a mine assay office, a black-light mineral display and a miniature stone village out back.

4.5 on Google · 89 reviews

Museum website Directions Call (928) 927-5229

Opens the Quartzsite Historical Society’s website. Admission is free, and donations keep the museum running.

Details checked October 2026

Featured video

Video thumbnail from RVerTV’s YouTube tour of the historic Quartzsite stage stop museum
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Historic Quartzsite Stage Stop Museum · RVerTV on YouTube

Overview What you’ll see Why go RV tips Reviews Plan your visit Stay nearby FAQs

Type

History museum

In the 1866 adobe stage station on Main Street

Admission

Free

Donations welcome

Hours

Nov–Mar: Wed–Sun 10–4

Apr–Oct: Thursdays 10 am to noon only

Time needed

Up to 1.5 hours

One Tripadvisor reviewer’s guided tour

Parking

Lot out back

Parking behind the museum; no RV rules posted

Built

1866

By Charles Tyson as a stage station

What you’ll see

A frontier stage stop, room by room

The museum fills the old adobe station and its yard, with the biggest mining equipment on display outside.

The adobe walls and shaded wooden porch of Tyson’s Well Stage Station, now the Quartzsite Museum, photographed in 2017
Tyson’s Well Stage Station, 2017
Photo: Marine 69-71 on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Start here

Inside the 1866 stage station

Charley Tyson built this adobe station in 1866 beside a well with good water and grass for the horses. Inside, the main room still has its ceiling of saguaro ribs, one room keeps its dirt floor, and the original fireplace is lit in winter. Photographs of early residents, including Hi Jolly, line the walls.

RV tip: the museum keeps short summer hours (Thursdays 10 am to noon, April through October), so plan your visit for the winter season, when it’s open five days a week.

More to see

  • Mariquita Mine assay officeThe original assay shack from the Mariquita Mine sits in the yard, with assay and mining equipment from local mines inside.
  • Fluorescent mineralsA black-light display lights up fluorescent minerals common to the Quartzsite area.
  • Barrett’s Miniature VillageWinter resident Walter Barrett built a little village of cement and stone houses during his retirement, and it was donated to the museum.
  • The Oasis Hotel ruinsJust west of the museum stand the ruins of the Oasis Hotel, the Historical Society’s next restoration project.

The Historical Society’s website

A square adobe-brick watering well with a wooden frame on the grounds of Tyson’s Well Stage Station in Quartzsite
The watering well, 2017Photo: Marine 69-71 on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sign shaped like Arizona reading Tyson’s Well Old Stage Station, describing the stage stop between Ehrenberg and Wickenburg
The stage station signPhoto: Marine 69-71 on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Adobe walls and a wooden porch rail of the Oasis Hotel building next to the Quartzsite Museum, photographed in 2017
The Oasis Hotel adobe, 2017Photo: Marine 69-71 on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
A stone historical marker shaped like Arizona marking the site of Tyson’s Well, with RVs parked in the desert behind it
The Tyson’s Well markerPhoto: Marine 69-71 on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Why go

Quartzsite’s story starts at a well

Long before the rock shows, Quartzsite was a watering stop. Around 1864 Charles Tyson hand-dug a 40-foot well here, and in 1866 he built an adobe stage station for travelers and for freighters hauling mining equipment and supplies from the river port at Ehrenberg to the territorial capital at Prescott.

The station later served as the post office, from 1893 to 1895, and became the Oasis Hotel around 1900. The Rice family donated the property in 1972, and the Quartzsite Historical Society opened Tyson’s Well Stage Station Museum in February 1980, after restoring the building and wrapping the original walls in a protective shell of stabilized adobe.

It’s small, free and run by volunteers, which makes it an easy hour on a winter day in town. Google reviewers single out the black-light display, the mining exhibits, the local history and the volunteers who show visitors around.

Front of the Quartzsite Museum in the 1866 Tyson’s Well Stage Station, with a wagon wheel and a museum sign on the porch, photographed in 2017
The Quartzsite Museum on Main Street, 2017
Photo: Marine 69-71 on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Why it made our list

  • Free, with donations welcome
  • The original 1866 adobe stage station
  • Mining history and a mine assay office
  • Fluorescent minerals under black light
  • Rated 4.5 on Google by nearly 90 visitors

For RVers

Visiting the Quartzsite Museum by RV

The practical stuff we wished someone had told us before we pulled in.

Right on Main Street

The museum is at 161 W. Main Street in the middle of town, between I-10 Exits 17 and 19. It’s about a two-minute drive from the West Main Street and Central Boulevard parks.

Park out back

Parking is behind the building. No RV size rules are posted, and Main Street gets busy during the January shows, so the tow vehicle or car is the easy choice.

Check the season

In winter the museum is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm, and closed Monday and Tuesday. From April through October it opens only on Thursdays, 10 am to noon. Call (928) 927-5229 to confirm.

More history nearby

Hi Jolly’s Tomb is less than a mile west on Main Street. The Historical Society also hosts a Walk in the Past event, set for February 27, 2027.

What visitors say about Quartzsite Museum

The visitor report card

We don’t copy other sites’ reviews, but the published scores are worth reading together. Scores checked October 20, 2026.

Stop and visit and learn a little more about Quartzsite

Quartzsite Historical Society · quartzsitemuseum.org

Google

4.5/5

89 reviews

Read

Tripadvisor

4.4/5

41 reviews

Read

Both sites

4.5/5

130 reviews combined

Average weighted by review count. We found no Yelp listing for the museum.

What visitors often mention

Recurring topics in Google’s reviews

Small museumBlack-light displayMining history

Google’s review topics point to the small museum (3 reviews), the black-light display (2), the mines (2) and local history (2). Checked October 20, 2026.

Open hours per week

Open hours per week: 30 from November to March, 2 from April to October30 hrsNov–Mar2 hrsApr–Oct

Winter: Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm (Google). Summer: Thursdays, 10 am to noon (museum website).

Good to know

AdmissionFree donations welcome

WinterWed–Sun 10 am–4 pm

SummerThursdays 10 am–noon

Look forAssay officeBlack-light mineralsMiniature village

Details from the Quartzsite Historical Society’s website and Google, checked October 20, 2026.

Know before you go

Plan your visit

Quartzsite Museum

  • Address161 W. Main St., Quartzsite, AZ 85346
  • HoursNov–Mar: Wed–Sun 10–4
    Apr–Oct: Thursdays 10 am to noon only
  • Phone(928) 927-5229
  • CostFree; donations welcome
  • Getting thereTake I-10 Exit 17 or 19 to Main Street (Business I-10). The museum is at 161 W. Main Street, in the middle of town.
  • ParkingBehind the museum. No RV size limits are posted, so bring the tow vehicle or car.
Museum website Get directions

Summer hours are short. Between April and October, call (928) 927-5229 before you go.

Where to stay nearby

RV parks near Quartzsite Museum

These are Quartzsite parks we have written up. The museum is in the middle of town, a few minutes from all of them.

Aerial view of the heated pool, clubhouse and palm-lined RV sites at Holiday Palms RV Resort in Quartzsite
About 2 min · 0.4 mi via W Main St

Holiday Palms RV Resort

Big, palm-lined resort near I-10 Exit 17 with a heated pool and hot tub, lighted pickleball and 244 full-hookup sites.

See Holiday Palms

RVs and trucks parked on wide gravel sites at Kofa Mountain RV Park in Quartzsite, with a palm tree and blue sky
About 2 min · 0.5 mi via Central Blvd

Kofa Mountain RV Park

Small, friendly 55+ park on Central Boulevard with 67 full-hookup sites and a clubhouse.

See Kofa Mountain

RV sites and palms along the road at Park Place RV Park in Quartzsite
About 4 min · 1.5 mi via E Main St

Park Place RV Park

Tidy 88-site park on Riggles Avenue by I-10 Exit 19, with palms, picnic tables and shade ramadas.

See Park Place

Helpful answers

Frequently asked questions

The questions RVers ask most before pulling in.

Yes. Admission is free, and donations to the Quartzsite Historical Society are welcome.

In winter it’s open Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm, according to Google. From April 1 to October 31 the museum lists summer hours of Thursdays, 10 am to noon. Call (928) 927-5229 to confirm.

Parking is behind the museum, but no RV size rules are posted. It’s on Main Street, a few minutes from most Quartzsite parks, so bring the tow vehicle or car.

The 1866 adobe stage station itself, with its saguaro-rib ceiling, plus mining equipment, the Mariquita Mine assay shack, a black-light display of fluorescent minerals, local photographs and Walter Barrett’s miniature stone village.

It’s a small museum. One Tripadvisor reviewer’s guided tour took about an hour and a half, and a quick look takes less.

The museum doesn’t post a pet policy. Ask a volunteer before bringing a dog inside, and on warm days leave pets at camp rather than in a parked vehicle.

Free · winter Wed–Sun 10 am–4 pm

Spend an hour in old Quartzsite

Start inside the stage station, then walk the yard to the assay office and the miniature village.

Museum website

or call (928) 927-5229

Thank you to the people behind these photos and this video. Please support them by giving their work a look. Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Marine 69-71 (stage station, well, signs and Oasis Hotel, 2017; CC BY-SA 4.0). The images were resized. Video: RVerTV on YouTube (stage stop museum tour). Review-site logos are trademarks of their owners.

Disclaimer

RV-Roundup is an independent, community-based resource created to help RV travelers and to support and promote the places we feature. RV-Roundup is not owned by, operated by, or officially affiliated with Quartzsite Museum unless otherwise stated.

The information on this page was prepared using the most current details available at the time of publication, including the Quartzsite Historical Society’s website and Google and other publicly available sources. Hours, pricing, rules and other details are set by the Quartzsite Historical Society and may change at any time without notice. Before you travel, please confirm all details directly with the museum at quartzsitemuseum.org or (928) 927-5229. RV-Roundup is not responsible for errors, omissions, or changes made after publication.

We will always do our best to keep this page up to date. Thank you to everyone who contributes; we truly appreciate your help and support.

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