Herb and Joan Zuhl collected fossils, rocks, minerals and petrified wood for many years, and their collection grew into a large and expensive array. When they retired, they decided to settle down in Las Cruces, and allowed the Zuhl library to display some of their impressive pieces.

Tiffany Santos is the director of the Zuhl museum, and explained the importance of the impressive Zuhl collection.

“This collection is a Smithsonian level collection. Some of these pieces the Smithsonian actually wanted to buy, but Mr. Zuhl bought them.” said Santos. “It’s important for people in our area to see these amazing pieces that they might not have been able to see otherwise.”

In October of 2004 the Zuhl Museum opened its doors to house thousands of fossils and other geological artifacts. From August to October of 2017, the museum has been closed for renovations. New exhibits are now being opened in the museum.

“The biggest part of the renovations in a new gallery which is going to be a history of life gallery.” said Santos “There is going to be a border on the top of the wall that has the names of time periods so you can see what time period the fossils you’re looking at came from.”

“Another new exhibit is what I like to call the forest. There are 30 petrified logs that are going to be on display, with trees painted on the wall, so it will look like you’re walking through a forest” Santos explained.

The Zuhl collection started off as a piece of petrified wood, and has expanded to a vast and beautiful collection. There are several pieces which are incredibly impressive, and the museum is very proud to display these pieces in their own gallery.

“We call one gallery the ‘Wow gallery,’” said Santos. “Everything in here from the precious gems to the painting on the wall make your jaw drop. The point is to walk in, and everywhere you turn, something makes you say ‘wow’.”

Almost all of the artifacts in the Zuhl museum were bought by Mr. Zuhl himself, because he found them unique and beautiful. The vast collection is impressive, especially when considering it was collected by one man and his wife.

“There are a few pieces from the geology collection and from the first curator of the museum, Dr. Gregory Mack. We’re almost to the point where 99.5% of the collection is Mr. Zuhl’s collection” Santos said.

The Zuhl Museum’s purpose is to educate the public on geological artifacts and offer everyone the chance to see Joan and Herb’s legacy. The grand re-opening will be Oct. 26, 2017, from 5p.m.-7p.m., and it will feature all the new exhibits, and collections.