GARDENS & RAILWAY

All aboard! Join us on our newest adventure at Coachella Valley History Museum.

In partnership with INDIO WATER AUTHORITY, Lowe's, HOT PURPLE ENERGY, and the CITY OF INDIO, we are excited to begin a new adventure on our campus.

The GARDENS & RAILWAY will encompass the 15,000-square-foot lot on the northeast corner of the campus that will feature an array of drought-tolerant demonstration gardens and an immersive, interactive railway exhibit.

Be one of the first to jump aboard our new Gardens & Railway Project!

Gardens

The Gardens will feature a variety of drought-tolerant demonstration gardens and include community gardens that will welcome community and school groups to grow seasonal vegetables and experience educational opportunities. The demonstration gardens will be professionally designed to depict the beauty the desert has to offer and to bring awareness to our need to preserve our limited resource - water. 

The drought-tolerant demonstration gardens will include:

  • Agave Garden

  • Cactus Garden

  • Monarch Butterfly Monitoring Stations

  • Xeriscape Garden

  • Succulent Garden

  • Hummingbird Garden

  • Colorado Desert Garden

  • Ethno Botanical Garden

  • Southwest Garden

  • Raised Community Gardens

The Railway Exhibit will be an immersive, interactive experience in an actual Southern Pacific Train Car! Made possible by a generous donation from Yvonne Weischedel in the name of her late husband and railroad enthusiast, William Alton Weischedel, the 1950s stainless steel railway car was purchased and has arrived to its new home on the CVHM campus.

Railway

The 1950s stainless steel railway car will be converted to replicate Southern Pacific Sunset Limited dining and lounge cars of the era by locally-based award-winning interior designer, Patricia Lockwood of Design Vision Studio.

The Railway Exhibit will:

  • depict the vital importance the railroads played in the establishment and development of the Coachella Valley

  • feature virtual and interactive capabilities that will allow you to be transported to a time when the railway was the premier mode of transportation.  Through current and developing technological capabilities, we are looking to create virtual trips to places around the world.

  • offer a unique private event space for making unforgettable memories

The new Gardens & Railway Exhibit will also include a life-size Desert Submarine, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the early cooling system used by workers at the turn of the 20th century that was essential to survival in the extreme desert heat.  The scaled replica will be modeled on the current Desert Submarine on display at the museum. 

Join the adventure!

Construction is already underway, and the design is taking shape. Now, we need YOU to help us make the vision come to life in a way that would make our Coachella Valley predecessors and today’s community proud. Give today by tapping the button below.