Old Tucson Closed
by Jane St. Clair

Old Tucson closed because of Covid, and, as the French say, quelle tragique!

Movie companies made over 400 movies and TV shows at Old Tucson’s studio since it opened in 1939. This means that so much of the power and myth of the Old West came out of this historical place.

Some TV classics like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Have Gun Will Travel, and Little House on the Prairie shaped the way Americans picture the frontier, and the cowboys and cowgirls who built it. Likewise, classic movies like Tombstone and How the West Was Won, also filmed there.

However, even non-western films came out of Old Tucson, like Tin Cup, Revenge of the Nerds, and Death Wish.

Before Old Tucson closed, it was not only a place to film movies, it was a tourist attraction. For a long time it was second only to the Grand Canyon as the most visited attractions in Arizona.

You could wander around the saloons and little shops, eat at Western-themed restaurants, and ride the train around the park. Every time the train went around the park, however, robbers would attack it every time.

Or you could also ride a stagecoach (bumpy).

You’d learn a lot about making western movies. Stunt cowboys would demonstrate how they’d make a fist fight look real or how they could safely fall from a building. You could wander inside the Old Tucson main studio, and see costumes, guns, and other props from great western films.

But I wouldn’t call it an educational spot. It was too much fun for that, especially at Halloween.

On April 24, 1995, Old Tucson had a massive fire that took out the main studio and three-fourths of its buildings. Some were just flimsy one-dimensional backdrops.

Yet it was a true disaster for film historians, because the fire destroyed costumes, piles of photos, rare behind-the-scenes footage, and even a priceless doll collection. Parts of the Reno, the park’s locomotive, melted. Old Tucson closed, and did not reopen until January 1997.

On September 14, 2020, because of Covid, Pima County took over Old Tucson. Pima County is working on a plan for the park’s future.

The park’s future cannot come too soon.

For a description of Old Tucson before Covid, go here. For a list of movies filmed at Old Tucson, and a list of movies that used her locomotive, go here here.