About the Nevada State Museum
The Nevada State Museum owes its existence to a Sunday morning walk. Judge Clark J. Guild, a Dayton native who had worked in mining and railroading before becoming a lawyer, district attorney, and district judge, was passing the old Carson City U.S. Mint on his way to the post office when he noticed a "For Sale" sign on the building. The mint had struck coins from Comstock Lode silver and gold from 1870 to 1893, and Guild's campaign to save it ended with the State of Nevada buying the building from the federal government for $5,000. He founded the museum in 1939, chaired its board of trustees until his death in 1971, and saw it open to the public on Nevada Day, October 31, 1941. A new addition was named the Clark J. Guild Wing in his honor in 1959.
The museum is the oldest in the state system and its flagship, one of seven Nevada State Museums operated by the Division of Museums and History within the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. It sits in Eagle Valley, the traditional homeland of the Waลกiw (Washoe) people, a relationship the museum acknowledges in its work with Great Basin tribes. Its stated mission is to engage audiences in understanding and celebrating Nevada's natural and cultural heritage.
Exhibits
- Historic Carson City Mint โ Your first steps inside are into the mint itself. The star is Coin Press No. 1, the original press from the mint's operating years, which is still run for public demonstrations on scheduled days, along with "CC"-marked Comstock silver dollars.
- Nevada: A People and Place Through Time โ A walk-through timeline of the state, including the silver service of the battleship USS Nevada, fashioned from 5,000 troy ounces of Nevada silver.
- Under One Sky Basket Gallery โ Washoe basketry, including the work of Louisa Keyser (Datsolalee), whose finest baskets carry thousands of stitches per inch, shown in partnership with the Washoe community.
- Nevada's Changing Earth โ More than 300 rock and mineral specimens from Nevada and the West, plus the paleontology collection, whose centerpiece is a Columbian mammoth from the Black Rock Desert.
- Ghost town and mine โ Long-standing walk-through exhibits of an Old West street and an underground mine, and a changing gallery of temporary shows.
Collections and Research Services
The museum maintains two research operations that serve the public by appointment. The Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center, in a separate facility, holds nineteenth- through twenty-first-century garments, quilts, flags, and accessories from Nevada and the Great Basin, including the inaugural gowns of Nevada's first ladies, and the Marilyn J. Horn fashion library; its curator helps the public identify and date historic clothing and advises on preservation. Call (775) 687-6173 to arrange a visit. The Anthropology department accepts written research requests through a form on the website, and archaeological and paleontological records searches are handled by the Anthropology Archives Manager. Family historians working on a Carson City or Comstock ancestor should also consult the state archives and the sources in our guide to free family history research.
Planning Your Visit
The museum is at 600 N. Carson Street, a few blocks north of the Nevada State Capitol, and is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and free for visitors 17 and under; museum members enter free. Coin Press No. 1 demonstrations are held on announced dates, so check the calendar at carsonnvmuseum.org if you want to see it run. A short drive south on Carson Street, the Nevada State Railroad Museum preserves the Virginia & Truckee Railroad equipment that once hauled Comstock ore past the mint's door.
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