Bullion Plaza Museum and Cultural Center
Location: 150 Plaza Circle, Miami, AZ 85539
HOURS OPEN:
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 10:00AM to 2:00PM
Saturday and Sunday 10:00AM to 4:00PM
Free Admission – Donations Welcomed
Operated by volunteers and is a non-profit 501 (c) 3
Certified Member of the Museum Association of Arizona
Website: https://bullionplazamuseum.org/
During the times of segregation, Bullion Plaza opened as a grammar school for the Mexican and Apache students of the community in 1923. Young Hispanic students, who did not have fair skin attended Bullion Plaza. It is also known that Anglo students and “light skinned” Mexican students attended Inspiration Addition School up on Rose Road to the south of Highway 60. Miami Schools were desegregated in 1950, about 14 years before the federal mandate because of a forward thinking, money conscience Superintendent, R.E. Martin.
Over the years, Bullion Plaza functioned as a school to many different grade levels: First through Eighth grades, and for many years Bullion Plaza was home to Fourth and Fifth Grades. Bullion Plaza School saw many generations of students flow through its doors until it was deemed unsafe and closed in 1994.
In 1995 a committee, made up of Roberto A. Reveles and Otto Santa Anna as the Co-Chairmen, was organized to save Bullion Plaza from demolition. The Town of Miami purchased the building for $75,000 and workshops were conducted with professional consultants to organize and plan the Museum. In 1998, the Town of Miami approved to use Bullion Plaza as a Cultural Center and Museum. The Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum became a 501 c 3 in 1999 and work began with the first exhibit opening in the old band room and later moved to the old school library in 2000.
The Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum was placed on the National Register of Historic Places based on its Neoclassical architecture and unique role in public education.
In 2005, a 35-ton mining haul truck and a 250-ton haul truck bed was donated by Phelps Dodge Copper Company (now Freeport McMoRan) and sits on the southeast corner of the front lawn. Many other pieces of mine equipment have been added to the front of the building honoring Miami’s long history and future of copper mining.
Through many grants, needed repairs were accomplished and additional displays were created. Many cultural exhibits describing early miners – Slavic/Mexican/Italian heritages, exhibit cases and minerals on loan from the Arizona Mine and Mineral Museum and Arizona Historical Society, school and community histories/stories, hospital history, ranching history, and local Armed Forces history has been added. Mining exhibits within the museum, illustrate the many different processes ore travels through for the copper to be extracted.
The first Executive Director, Mr. Tom Foster, was hired in 2009 to oversee and develop historic areas of interest for the public. Through grant funding, the museum exhibits expanded. Dindinger Mineral exhibits were acquired, Hard Scrabble Lecture series begin, minerals and exhibit cases were provided by the Arizona Mine and Mineral Museum through the Arizona Historical Society, the Rose Mofford and Slavic exhibit was opened, the Hispanic Cultural exhibit opened, the Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company Room opens, and the research room was made possible by a grant from Freeport McMoRan. Other contributors include the Gila County Board of Supervisors, the United Fund of Globe/Miami, and many other organizations and individuals in the area.
With Mr. Tom Foster’s passing in 2024, Mr. Phil Stewart was appointed as the Executive Director.
The Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum has become a destination for tourists around the state and beyond.
MIAMI, AZ and the COPPER CORRIDOR
“Because the world needs copper and the world need flowers, too.”
ASARCO – https://www.asarco.com/
BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary) – https://www.bhp.com/
CAPSTONE, Pinto Valley – https://capstonecopper.com/
Copper Fox Metals – https://copperfoxmetals.com/
Freeport McMoRan – https://www.fcx.com/
KGHM, Carlota – https://kghm.com/en/about-us/our-industry/copper-market
Resolution Copper – https://resolutioncopper.com/
