Preserving Historical Artifacts and Properties in Oracle, AZ and surrounding areas
Acadia Ranch Museum Oracle Historical Society
Just up the road from the Pusch House Museum at Steam Pump Ranch in Oro Valley, you’ll find a charming historic destination: the Acadia Ranch Museum, operated by the Oracle Historical Society. They also steward the American Flag Ranch, the area’s post office from 1880–1890 and one of the oldest surviving territorial-era sites in the region.
Oracle, named in 1878 after a ship built in Bath, Maine, is an easy and scenic drive from Oro Valley. It’s a small town with a big story—rich in mining history, early health‑seeking tourism, and the heyday of dude ranches that drew visitors from across the country.
Make your visit even better with a stop at one of Oracle’s locally loved eateries:
Art, Adoption, and Appropriation – Hopi Imagery and the Arizona Citrus Industry – Circa 1920’s -1950’s
Citrus & Saguaros – An Illustrated History of Citrus in Arizona 1888-1960 – scroll down the Heritage Garden page to find this article.
Lettuce and Landscapes – An Illustrated History of Commercial Row Crops in Arizona (Circa 1920’s-1960’s) – scroll down the Heritage Garden page to find this article.
Step into the Legend of Earl Linwood Francis – An Arizona Life (7/25/1931 – 8/15/1966)
John Medley (Oracle Historical Society) with Bill Huggett photographs by Stephen H. Willard
Watch Labeled as Art on the AZPM YouTube Channel – John Royal Medley Jr. has collected more than 280 citrus crate labels that create a unique lens through which to view over a century of Arizona’s history. Themes include Victorian, tourism, cowboys, AND there is a surprising story involving a Sun Devil.
A May 2025 visit to Acadia Museum: Dale Suter and Kevin Armbrust (Oracle Historical Society) with Lynn Zoyiopoulos and Bob Kellar (OVHS)