Our Museum

Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum

Beyond this door the past lives on...

A visit to the Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum brings you to a private collection and display of tools, equipment, objects and artifacts used in daily life during the mineral mining era (prehistoric - 1880's - recent) of Cerrillos.
The museum is on the grounds of the old Palace Hotel where Thomas Edison stayed while working on gold experiments in the nearby mining district of old placers, and NM territorial governor Lew Wallace drafted his book Ben Hur. Rough Riders were recruited from the cowboys here to fight in Cuba, following Teddy Roosevelt up San Juan hill.
The site for the Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum and Trading Post is packed with history.
Centuries ago, Native Americans mined this area for turquoise to use in trade and jewelry, some of which has been dated back to the 900's. They also mined lead which was hand ground for paint and pottery glaze. Spanish explorers discovered these ancient diggings and worked the mines during the 17th and 18th centuries. Anglo miners toiled until early 1900's, when most mines became exhausted and played out. Today, the Brown family work claims that yield this world famous Cerrillos turquoise.
The equipment and artifacts found here at the Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum include tools, photographs, maps, rocks, minerals, dry washers, gold pans, miners' lamps and drills. The museums' windows are a colorful and intriguing collection of old medicine bottles, telegraph insulators and more.

Visit the museum year round - most days 10-4pm

$4.00 Entrance