FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jose Cisneros Vice President
eMail: jc0294657@gmail.com
Phone: (602) 206-5560
San Tan Historical Society and Museum. New displays showcasing the History of Queen Creek from the Ranches of the 1880’s to the post World War II era. Exhibit Features the Inspiring story of the early ranches of Queen Creek and how Queen Creek grew into a community. The event will happen on January 27th at 12:00 pm (noon) at Historic Rittenhouse School at 20425 S. Old Ellsworth Rd.
Queen Creek Arizona – The San Tan Historical Society and museum will inaugurate new displays focusing on the pioneer history of the Queen Creek area. The displays are in the form of three towers with wings. Each tower focuses on separate eras. Tower 1 will focus on the early ranchers such as Sylvestre Andrade, Robert Bowen, and the coming of the Railroad. Tower 2 will focus on the homesteaders such as the Sossaman, Germann , and Mather Families along with Charles Rittenhouse who brought in large-scale irrigation. Tower 3 focuses on the community builders such as the Ellsworth Family , the Brandon family along with the post World War II Families such as the Barnes , Barney, and Schnepf families.
Apart from the three towers an additional display will be exhibited. This display will eventually take the place of the current display at the Desert Wells/ Sylvestre Andraded Ranch site at Sossaman Rd. and Chandler Heights Rd. The display focuses on the history of the ranch site and its first owner Sylvestre Andrade.
Between 1926 and 1982 the centerpiece of the community was the Rittenhouse Elementary School. At one point the school building was the de facto community center for Rittenhouse Ranch/Queen Creek. Queen Creek prior to 1947 was known as Rittenhouse Ranch, named after Charles Rittenhouse. Currently the San Tan Historical Society and Museum are housed in the Historic Rittenhouse Elementary School located at 20425 S. Old Ellsworth Rd. Members of the early families will be attending as well as members of the Queen Creek Town Council and Mayor Julia Wheatley. Mayor Wheatley will be speaking at the inauguration. Members of the community are also invited to attend.
The three tower displays were funded by Steve and Chris Sossaman. The development of the displays
was done by Museum Pros, LLC with help and research done by Vice President Jose Cisneros and
President Keith Johanson.
Museum Pros, LLC, was founded in 2019 with the goal of helping small museums make a big impact
in the community. To that end, they design and build exhibits that fit small museum spaces and
budgets
