News

THIS IS IT!  It has been a spectacular OVHS program year from September through April.  On Saturday, April 9 the Oro Valley Historical Society (OVHS) will feature “Celebrate Oro Valley, Celebrate Oro Valley Historical Society” with an exhibit at the Pusch House from 9 to 2.  Note the Pusch House Museum will be open two hours longer to coincide with Town of Oro Valley activities at Steam Pump Ranch.  Also note this is the LAST day for exhibits at the Pusch House Museum until September.

The Pusch House Museum exhibit will include displays on former owners and residents of Steam Pump Ranch.  It will also present the history of horses in the southwest to coordinate with Town “Celebrate Oro Valley” activities and a brief history of the OVHS (and how you can get involved).  We hope to see you at this last BIG celebration of the year!

Steam Pump Ranch and the Pusch House Museum is located at 10901 N. Oracle Road.

Come One, Come All,

The Annual Meeting of the Oro Valley Historical Society (OVHS) will take place on Thursday, March 24 at 3:00 p.m.  It will be held at the Pusch House at Steam Pump Ranch (10901 No. Oracle – south end of property).  There will be a short meeting and election of board members.  After the meeting, you will have the opportunity to see the current exhibit in the Pusch House Museum, “Wonder Women of Oro Valley and Beyond”, renew your membership, sign-up for volunteer positions, and chat with board members.

Hope to see you!

The OVHS Board of Directors,

Henry Zipf, President

Roxy Johnson, Vice-President

Paul Loomis, Treasurer

Teri Colmar, Secretary

Sue Chambasian, Collections

Joyce Rychener, Heritage Garden

Sheri Graves, Photography

WONDER WOMEN OF ORO VALLEY AND BEYOND!

It’s a new month and that means a new exhibit!  “Meanwhile Back at the Ranch” shows some of the aspects of ranch life.  For both men and women ranch life was challenging but like it or not, it was necessary to sustain their livelihood.

The exhibit is open every Saturday from 9 to Noon at the Pusch House Museum at Steam Pump Ranch 10901 No. Oracle Road, Oro Valley, AZ.  Suggested donation $5.

AND

Every first and third Saturdays beginning in January through April 16, the Oro Valley Historical Society offers outdoor walking tours of the Historic Steam Pump Ranch Property from 9  to 11:30 a.m.  Sign up at the Oro Valley Historical Society Booth (look for the banner).  First come, first serve.  Tours leave every 15 minutes with the last tour leaving at 11:30.  Tours are approximately 45 minutes and require walking on gravel and dirt paths.  Suggested donation $5.

COME ON DOWN!  WE HOPE TO SEE YOU!

This past fall, we were given the “go ahead” to reopen the Pusch House Museum.  And that we did!

In September we traveled back in time to the roots of the Southwest, honoring Hispanic American Heritage Month.  Arizona and particularly our local area are rich with Hispanic  cultural influences and history.  

In October, we  explored the history of  Steam Pump Ranch and celebrated German American Heritage by focusing on George Pusch (German immigrant) and John Zellweger (Germanic Swiss immigrant).  We featured items from our collection donated by the Pusch family.  The exhibit also highlighted  other notable German immigrants who influenced Tucson’s development.

  Exhibit featured many Pusch family heirlooms.

November took us back to the beginning of North American peoples – Native Americans.

Oro Valley is lucky to be home to several archeological sites of the Hohokam culture.  We explored the Hohokam culture as well as current nations and peoples that have and still influence the Southwest; Apache, Tohono O’dham, and Pasqua Yaqui.

We were happy to receive a grant from the Arizona Historical Society for the purpose of creating a timeline of Oro Valley history that will become part of our permanent exhibit.  The project will be complete in June and be unveiled in our next program year in September. We wish to thank Thomas Foster a representative from the Arizona Historical Society for hand delivering the check to us.  The picture below shows Tom on the left and Henry Zipf, OVHS President on the right.

OVHS closed the year with “Traditions, Toys, and Trains”.

On December 8, Gene Caywood, historian and author, gave a talk on the Narrow Gauge Railroad..the Railroad to Everywhere…and to Nowhere, to a full house at the Pusch House Museum.  Gene’s lecture was both interesting and informative.  It included the history of the plans for the Narrow Gauge Railroad in Arizona including Oro Valley and it’s connection to George Pusch and John Zellweger.  Thank you to Ken Karrels and Paul Horky (the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum) and Gene Caywood (Old Pueblo Trolley Museum) for setting up and contributing their time in coordinating and giving the lecture.

The December exhibit showcased holiday traditions of early immigrants who settled in the Oro Valley Greater Area; German traditions, Jewish traditions and Hispanic traditions.  Our visitors enjoyed the opportunity to explore local heritage and traditions that may have been unfamiliar to them.

The “toy room” featured many classic toys and their histories…sometimes they came about completely by accident!  Visitors loved the nostalgia having experience with some of the toys on display.

The Great Room focused on the history and importance of trains in the Southwest.  For fun we also included the connection of trains to the holiday season!  On December 18, Doug Potter, from the Gadsden-Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum, installed an operating toy train in the Pusch House museum to the delight of the visitors! (BTW both the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum in Tucson and the Gadsden-Pacific Toy Train Museum are a MUST see!)

As we close the books on 2021, we hope you will take the time to visit the Pusch House Museum and Steam Pump Ranch in 2022!  You never know what you will discover!         Happy New Year!