Dozens of Tucson bookshops have come and gone over the years, more than 75 of them in all, but for thousands of kids growing up in the 1980s and ‘90s there was only one: the Haunted Bookshop at Tohono Chul.
The store was nestled in the middle of the desert preserve we see today, near a trail that meandered up the hill from the parking lot through the cactus, agave and mesquite.
Once inside the store, children could crawl through a tunnel of books, join a friend in the “hidey hole,” or just watch the model train that rolled along tracks high overhead.
“A visit here is more than a shopping trip,” co-owner Jean Wilson once said. “It’s an outing; it’s a day.”
The Haunted Bookshop closed in 1997, but its spirits live on — not just at Tohono Chul, but in “nontraditional bookstores” scattered throughout Tucson, from the National Parks Store in Oro Valley to the gift shop at San Xavier Mission.
Hacienda del Sol is home to one of many of Tucson's “nontraditional bookstores” — businesses that also provide other goods and services.
There is no single, complete list of all these locations, but new books are also sold at such places as the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Children’s Museum Tucson, Mildred and Dildred, Tucson Botanical Gardens, White Stallion Ranch, and the Petroglyphs store near the Mercado.
Tohono Chul, for its part, has three small book areas now, each a descendant of the Haunted Bookshop.
“The bookstore had closed when I came here 23 years ago,” said Linda Wolfe, Tohono Chul’s director of guest services, “but the park was still selling books. I worked with Joyce Whaley, who had come over from the bookstore. Joyce thought the books would keep us connected to the park’s past … and be a great way to honor (bookstore owners) Lois and Dick Wilson.”
Named for a long-ago novel by Christopher Morley, the Haunted Bookshop was not the largest bookstore in town. Those more attuned to popular literature were more likely drawn to the Book Mark on East Speedway Boulevard, but the Haunted Bookshop attracted the gardeners, hikers and outdoor people … and had the largest collection of children’s books in Tucson.
Today, children’s books and Southwestern cookbooks can be found in the in the gift shop near Tohono Chul’s Garden Bistro. Plant and gardening books are available near the greenhouse, while books about art and culture are sold near the gallery.
All of the park’s offerings represent the American Southwest, from nature to culture to food.
Wolfe said the park sold more than 800 books last year, and book sales accounted for some 10% of its retail revenue overall.
“Exploring our three shops is a great way to explore our park,” Wolfe noted, “just like it was when people followed the trail up to the old bookstore.”
Visitors to Tohono Chul can find children’s books and Southwestern cookbooks in the gift shop near the Garden Bistro. Plant and gardening books are available near the greenhouse, while books about art and culture are sold near the gallery, says Linda Wolfe, director of guest services.
National Parks Store
Tucson’s largest hybrid bookstore may be its least well-known: the National Parks Store, located near the northern edge of Oro Valley, a mile beyond the Oro Valley Marketplace.
This is headquarters for the Western National Parks Association, which provides educational and promotional support for 70 federal parks in 12 Western states. The store offers samplings from all of them. Shoppers can find maps, brochures and a wide range of collectibles, but it is hard to miss all those books.
“We operate like an independent bookstore,” said Community Outreach Director Carolyn Lochner. “We host readings and a book club. We do programs on Wednesday night and weekends, and — as you can see — we have plenty of books.”
Hundreds of titles fill the shelves and adorn the tables, many featuring our national parks. Still, the Parks Store leans heavily into the American Southwest. It doesn’t take long to find books by Arizona authors such as Wynne Brown, David Wentworth Lazaroff, Ash Davidson and Tom Zoellner.
The Parks Store will host the book launch of “In the Arms of Saguaros” by William L. Bird Jr. when it is released by UA Press in October.
The store also works closely with Rio Nuevo Publishing, and the Western National Parks Association sponsors the Nature and Environment Stage at the Tucson Festival of Books.
San Xavier Mission
Bookending Tucson’s collection of hybrid bookshops, both geographically and contextually, is San Xavier on the Tohono O’odham Nation south of the city.
It isn’t large. It isn’t fancy, but it helps tell the mission’s story to the tens of thousand of visitors who flock there every spring.
The main focus of the gift shop is souvenirs and religious items, but the small book section offers a number of volumes about the mission, its history and life around it. The collection also includes colorful pictures books set in Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora.
FOOTNOTES
The Haunted Bookshop was located in the building that now serves as Tohono Chul’s Education Center. Lois and Dick Wilson owned the store and more than 30 acres of desert around it. Visitors were welcome to wander through on dirt trails behind their home, which was known as the “West House” and now is the park’s Garden Bistro.
The UA Poetry Center will resume its Distinguished Writers Series by featuring novelist Dionne Irving Thursday, Aug. 31. She will read and sign copies of her books after a program that begins at 7 p.m. in the Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St. Learn more at tucne.ws/1o24.
The Tucson Festival of Books will host a “Pub Party” for author J.A. Jance on Sept. 21. She will be on hand to celebrate the release of her new book. “Blessing of the Lost Girls,” two days earlier. For reservations to the event, visit tucne.ws/1o29.
In October 2020, when it was safe to gather outdoors only, these scenes at Tohono Chul Park were taken. The park should be even better today. Video by Johanna Eubank, Arizona Daily Star.
