Trail Dust Town is a historical outdoor shopping center located in Tucson, Arizona. Although Trail Dust Town operates as a for-profit shopping mall, on its grounds exists a great number of historical artifacts, including an Allan Herschellmerry-go-round which was manufactured in 1954 that still contains its original horses and benches. Trail Dust Town is also home to a non-profit history museum; Museum of the Horse Soldier. The museum chronicles the history of U.S. mounted military service. It is notable for having one of the nation's largest public displays artifacts from the era of the military horse, including original period saddles, uniforms, weapons, firearms, and ephemera. Since the museum's incorporation in Jan. 2013, it has received recognition from around the world, including the British Broadcasting Corporation, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Arizona Highways, and multiple publications. Some of the museum's highlights include the only Civil War collection available to the public in the state of AZ and rare U.S. military saddles from the 1830s-present day. This unique and rare collection of original historical items makes this the gem of Trail Dust Town.
History
The shopping mall was built from the abandoned set of an unfinished Glenn Fordwestern movie set that was left outside of the populated area of Tucson in the 1950s.
From 1961 to 1982, Trail Dust Town was the site of one of Tucson's earliest community theater companies, Playbox Theatre. Playbox started several years earlier in a vacant church near the University of Arizona but it moved to Trail Dust Town in order to grow. The building is now called The Savoy Opera House and it is rented out for banquets and other events.
Constituent attractions
Trail Dust Town Railroad
The Trail Dust Town Railroad is a narrow-gauge, motorized train that runs on a looped 24" track. The railroad loads patrons at Trail Dust Town's train depot, which is modeled after the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western station located in Wallace, New York. The engine, named "C. P. Huntington", and numbered 287, pulls two passenger cars around the town and passes through several theme areas, two tunnels, and across several working, but miniature crossings.
Generally performed two or three times an evening, Trail Dust Town's stunt show is a slapstick comedyhomage to the wild west. The shows, which vary from twenty to thirty minutes in length, are performed adjacent to the Trail Dust Town depot, in an area that seats around 125 patrons. Most shows feature falls from the top of two story buildings, dynamite explosion effects and lots of "rough and tumble" choreographed fights.
