North of Phoenix, not far from Anthem, Arizona is the Pioneer Living History Museum which houses historical structures from the territory that span the years 1863-1912. It also contains a quirky little Telephone History Museum. Not only can you explore old schools, churches, libraries, cabins, telegraph offices, and more, but they also put on Wild West shootouts and they host Civil War Reenactments of the battles that took place in the Southwest (which I cover extensively in my series over the Civil War in the Southwest). Also among the old and crumbling buildings is John Tewksbury’s Ranch at the Flying V (which I talked extensively about in my episode over the Pleasant Valley War). Some of the buildings are original and were moved to the location while others were delicately reconstructed. It’s a great place to spend a morning before the Sonoran desert gets too hot. There’s plenty of shade though and lots of awesome Saguaros.

With the riots and protests of 2020 and 2021 rapidly disappearing from our memory (thank goodness), the park has decided to allow Civil War Reenactments to recommence. They use black powder, the men march, and they fire period accurate cannons which pack a real punch. The show was a lot of fun to watch and I hope to join a reenactment group sometimes soon.