Quartzsite Then Tucson

In a little western town just 20 miles east of the Colorado River on I-10 is home to the town of a rockhound’s paradise since the 1960's, Quartzisite, Arizona. Every year it is home to the biggest small town show reaping more than a million visitors is the Quartzsite show. About 2,000 vendors ranging from rocks, gems, minerals, fossils and everything in-between create one of the world’s largest open air flea markets in little Quartzsite, Arizona. There are eight major gem and mineral shows as well as vendors of raw and handcrafted merchandise selling to customers from snowbirds, collectors, and many rockhounds.

A little history, it was settled in 1856 when Charles Tyson built a fort to protect his water supply from attacks by Native Americas. Fort Tyson soon became a stopover on the Ehrenhurg-to-Prescott stagecoach route. It had become known as Tyson’s Wells by the time the stage stopped running and the town then became abandoned. A small mining boom revitalized the town as Quartzsite in 1897 and it remained until 1965, when the Pow Wow Rock, Gem & Mineral Show began the rockhound winter fever migrations to Quartzsite each year. In these more modern days, the population can swell to almost a million during the January and February rockhound extravaganza.

2010 Calendar of Events
January 01 - February 28, 2010 Desert Gardens-Gem & Mineral Show
January 01 - January 10, 2010 Tyson Wells Rock & Gem Show
January 09 - February 24, 2010 Main Event
January 15 - January 24, 2010 Tyson Wells Sell-A-Rama
January 16 - January 24, 2010 Sports, Vacation & RV Show
January 27 - January 31. 2010 Hobby Craft & Gem Show
January 29 - February 7, 2010 Tyson Wells Arts & Craft Fair
January 20 - January 24, 2010 Annual Pow Wow

Next stop….Tucson!