The Pinal Gem and Mineral Society held our first meeting at the museum’s current location on December 3, 2014. W chose the location for the meetings because there was a lapidary shop and lapidary school being started at the then Artisan Village. The lapidary shop was available for club members making this a good location. The shop and school are now closed, and the City of Coolidge has taken over the building, but we’re still happy to be in the same location.

Society Membership is open to anyone. Much of our membership lives in the Coolidge, Florence, and the surrounding areas of Pinal County, but we have members around the world. Many of our members are part-time residents in Arizona but participate fully during their time in the state. The club has met monthly since 2014 from September to May. We have over 300 active subscribers to our monthly newsletter.

Museum organization began in April 2015. The Flagg Mineral Foundation assisted with some start-up funds, cases, and minerals. David Scott loaned us the Wicklund collection. Hard work by Pinal Gem and Mineral Society members allowed us to first open the museum to the public on a limited basis in June 2015.,

Since then we’ve continued to grow and expand. We have improved and updated displays with new material, and feature paleontology as well – including our young Allosaurus and Dilophosaurus models.

During the pandemic, we continued our monthly meetings and presentations online. We resumed in-person meetings in September 2022. Meetings are held from September through May on the third Wednesday, at 7 pm, at the museum.

Starting in 2022 we opened the museum with weekly hours year-round and continue growing and updating our exhibits both in-person and online, including activities for kids.

We are a proud member of the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies and the Pinal County Museums

The Pinal Geology Museum exists through the hard work of the many volunteer members of the Pinal Geology And Mineral Society.

Pinal Geology and Mineral Society Board and officers

Board of directors and ending year of their three year term..

Members:
Ray Grant, 2024
Richard Sichling, 2024
Ken Rippere, 2025
Dana Slaughter, 2025
Barbara Sichling, 2026
Brad Weaver, 2026

Officers: President – Raymond Grant
Vice President – Richard Sichling
Treasurer – Ken Rippere
Secretary – Dana Slaughter

Nonvoting member:
Executive Director – Christine New