The first stop in the Camp Verde historical walking tour is the Visitors Center, which doubles as a museum for the Camp Verde Historical Society, and reopened on Wednesday, Oct. 15, after having been revamped for about a year.
“We had new posters, created an open space, got some new furniture in there,” said Crisi Clark, Visitors Center manager and economic development specialist for Camp Verde.
Clark, who organized this event, said she’s been in economic development with the town since 2021 and said a key part of the Camp Verde economy is tourism.
The inside of the revamped visitor center has myriad maps and books about all things Camp Verde and Arizona. On one side is an information center with displays and local pamphlets and on the other is the historical society’s museum including displays of metal tools, homesteaders and cowboy materials.
“It’s one of our historic buildings, and it was originally the school house on Main Street, and so in 2013 the visitor center moved into it, and it’s like our museum as well,” Camp Verde Mayor Marie Moore said.
In the grass next to the reopened visitor center on its reopening day were several booths and stands from local organizations often visited by tourists, including the Out of Africa Wildlife Park touting its Tiger Splashes, Mystic Muse advocating its metaphysical healing and Jennifer Steffen, the park manager of Fort Verde State Historic Park.
“So I wanted to bring them out here and let people meet them again, just revisit them and maybe grow a little bit,” Clark said.
Steffen, who organizes events at Fort Verde, said these events are very popular.
Coming up, the fort will have several season-themed events. This year, its first Haunting at the Fort event will happen on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 6 to 8 p.m.
It will consist of a “ghostly lantern lit walk,” according to flyers for the event, as well as ghost stories and a glimpse of the fort after hours. It’s at no additional cost, only regular admission price which is $10 for ages 14 and older, $5 for ages 7 through 13 and free for those 6 and under.
Other upcoming events include Living History Day on Saturday, Nov. 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Victorian Christmas events which will happen daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout December and a Victorian Christmas at the Fort on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Representatives from the town, the Historical Society and the Chamber of Commerce were all there to cut the red ribbon in celebration of their own event, which brought about 30 people in the first two hours.
“As many of you know, the Camp Verde Historical Society was founded in 1971 following the sale of Fort Verde to Arizona state parks,” Moore said during her remarks at the ceremony. “In 2013, the visitor center moved into the front room of this historic school house itself, the first stop on our historic building walking tour.”
The schoolhouse, she said, was built in 1914.
The historical walking tour has 13 stops including a dance hall used during the ’20s, The Verde Valley Mercantile Company building used in the early 20th century and the Civil Works Administration Jail.
Walking into the visitor’s center, there’s a display case on the right with pottery that was found near Montezuma Castle National Monument.
During the ribbon cutting ceremony and the business displays that followed, the Verde Valley Archeology Center and Museum, which is located at 460 Finnie Flat Road, had a booth set up.
“The economic offices give us a great deal of support as a museum,” Verde Valley Archeology Center and Museum Executive Director Monica Buckle said about the grand reopening. “One of our museum docents, who is a volunteer with the museum, actually works with the visitor center here at Camp Verde. So even though we’re separate organizations, it’s so intertwined.”
She said the center has events year-round, including oil painting courses — the next one runs from Thursday, Oct. 23, to Thursday, Nov. 6 — and presentations on petroglyphs and pictographs.
All events and information about them can be found on the center’s website, verdevalleyarchaeology.org.
