Pinal County Historical Society Museum (Florence, Arizona)
Although I’ve never been to Arizona myself, Maggie S. makes this sound like a most interesting place to visit: “The Historical Society Museum has the actual nooses used to execute inmates, including the only female, who was decapitated when she was hung. They also have the door of the gas chamber that was once used.” If anyone’s been there and can provide more information, please add a comment.

Chris Reid sent the following information:

This is a great museum in  a very historic town founded in 1866. Florence was a silver mining boom town in the 1870’s and the county seat since 1875. It was a wild and woolly place with a shoot out between the sheriff and the deputy in 1888. The museum has the window with the bullet holes from the Tunnel Saloon where the fight started. Other things you might be interested in is the famous trunk murderess’s doll she made while in the prison in Florence. Winnie Ruth Judd-the one who shot her Phoenix roommates and put them in trunks. One fit. One didn’t, so she cut the corpse into pieces to make it fit. Go to the museum to get the full story. Yes, there is also the noose display as well which includes the one of the lady who lost her head and the double execution chair from the first gas execution in Arizona.

Although the prison displays are the most unique, there are other items of interest like the furniture made out of saguaro cactus, the wooden bullets, the Apache playing cards made out of deerskin, info on Camp Florence, the WWII prisoner of war camp, info on Tom Mix, the movie star killed south of Florence in  a freak accident. His suitcases killed him. Amongst the stories of some of the people who lived in Florence is the tale of a young Florence sailor who was on the USS Indianapolis and was one of the few who survived the sinking and the sharks during WWII. There are also Hohokam exhibits, info on movies filmed in Florence (Murphy’s Romans, Stir Crazy to name two) and lots of rodeo info relating to Gene Autry who visited Florence often.

If you haven’t been to this museum, it deserves a trip. While in town check out the over 100 buildings on the National Register and the prison outlet store with prisoner made goods. It’s a great Arizona destination if you like Arizona history and getting off the beaten path

Thank you for the information, Chris!  Sounds like a great place!