4 Best Sights in North-Central Arizona, Arizona

The 1935 stone-and-log building, which resembles a pueblo, is almost as interesting as the Native American artifacts and exhibits inside. Baskets, kachinas, pottery, rugs, and beadwork make up the collection, which represents indigenous cultures from the pre-Columbian period to the present.

The paintings and bronze sculptures of George Phippen, along with works by other artists of the West, form the permanent collection of this museum about 5 miles north of downtown. Phippen met with a group of prominent cowboy artists in 1965 to form the Cowboy Artists of America, a group dedicated to preserving the Old West as they saw it. He became the president but died the next year. A memorial foundation set up in his name opened the doors of this museum in 1984.

Local pioneer history is documented at this remarkable museum, the creative vision of historian and poet Sharlot Hall. Along with an original 1863 ponderosa pine log cabin and the mansion which housed the territorial governor in 1864, the parklike museum contains several additional restored period homes and a transportation exhibit housed in a former auto repair shop circa 1937. Territorial times are the focus, but natural history and artifacts of the area's prehistoric peoples are also on display.

Twenty saloons and bordellos once lined this stretch of Montezuma Street, along the west side of Courthouse Plaza. Social activity is more subdued these days, although live music pulses every evening, and the buildings have been beautifully restored. The historical bars provide an escape from the street's many boutiques.