The Early Days
     This history dances across the dark wood walls of the Museum Club, beginning with a small advertisement. “Wanted: freaks, antique guns, and prehistoric Indian curios.” Those were the words of Dean Eldridge — an eccentric character with a tattooed body and a passion for collecting, well, stuff — odd stuff. As a young boy, Eldridge began collecting all sorts of curios including a petrified frog. He dreamed of having a museum dedicated to everything from stuffed animals to Native American artifacts. That dream took shape in Flagstaff when he began building “The Dean Eldridge Museum and Taxidermy.”
     A large forked ponderosa pine was cut down and flipped over, putting the finishing touch to the Dean Eldridge Museum, which officially opened June 20, 1931. To pull people off Route 66, Eldridge placed a stuffed eagle on the entry way and two mountain lions at each corner of the building. It worked. People came to see his 30,000 specimen collection and to buy Indian curios.
     Today, you won’t find much of Eldridge’s original collection put you will find pictures of some of his more interesting items, including a photograph of a stuffed one eyed lamb, a two headed calf and even a six legged lamb. Current owner Zanzucchi rested his hand against the entryway wall. “What he wanted was a Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” Zanzucchi explained.
     In 1936, Doc Williams, a Flagstaff saddle maker took over the unique cabin and turned it into the Museum Club when Eldridge died. But it was Don Scott, a musician with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, who really transformed the Museum Club into a must stop for top country musicians. “Don Scott was a very talented steel guitar player and he knew all the musicians,” Zanzucchi explained as he looks at a contract the Museum Club had with country legend Willie Nelson. “They would come to see him [Scott] traveling from Nashville along Route 66 to Los Angeles or Las Vegas. They would stop and see Don Scott and play for practically nothing.”
     Music still rings through this night club. Although you won’t find any hot country artists singing here, you will hear local talent. Karaoke two nights a week and dancing on Thursdays keeps the place hopping. That musical tradition mixes with a few stuffed creations lurking high on the walls. A black bear with a plastic severed arm draws a few eyes along with another bear holding a cowboy hat in its mouth.
    

     Ghosts Among Us
     Along with the storied past comes tales of haunting. Scott and his wife Thorna both died in the Museum Club. Thorna tripped on stairs leading from the now blocked off upstairs. She landed on bar chairs and died. Several years later, her husband, sitting in front of the massive rock fireplace, put a gun to his head and took his life. Some say both of their spirits roam the Museum Club.
     Martin Zanzucchi has never seen a ghost in the Museum Club, but some of his patrons claim they have. There’s the story of a pretty young woman sitting alone in a booth. People buy her drinks but when the bar tender takes the drink over, the woman is gone. “They’ve [customers] accused of us having trick light show,” Zanzucchi said. There’s yet another tale of the manager sitting in the office late at night and the TV channel changer comes flying through the office door.
     And there’s the infamous story of the man living upstairs. “I had a guy living up stairs where the Scott’s used to live and he was held down in the middle of the night by a woman. And the woman says ‘Don’t be afraid. Only the living can hurt you.’” Zanzucchi went on to tell how the man struggled out of bed and jumped out the upstairs window and called him early in the morning. The police came but found no evidence of the mysterious woman. Shortly after that, Zanzucchi’s upstairs tenant packed up and left town.
    

     Not so Scary Future
     In May, Hollywood actress Renee Zellweger appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She had just returned from a trip through the Southwest which took her to Sedona and Flagstaff. An amateur photographer, she snapped plenty of pictures, one of which rested on Leno’s desk. It was a picture of the Museum Club.
     The Museum Club, what locals lovingly call the “Zoo Club” because of the stuffed animals from the taxidermy days, continues to garner national attention. It’s listed in the National Register of Historic Places and it’s been named one of the top ten roadhouses by Car and Driver magazine. It’s no wonder, given the club’s unique history and character.