Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Clark County Museum is worth a visit (and the $1.50 admission!)

The Clark County Heritage Museum is in your backyard…literally! Located at 1830 S. Boulder Highway, this tribute to our community’s history is just a hop, skip, and a car ride away.

Not long ago, I found myself with a window of time to do something, anything, and I didn’t want to do it at home. While reading the paper I came across another article about the Clark County Heritage Museum offering its Centennial Exhibit. I decided it was time to head on over, since it’s only a two-minute drive from my house.

My mom, like me, is also a Nevada history buff so after I loaded my baby and stroller into the car, we went and picked her up. All we needed was $1.50 to get in. That’s it! I found that, in change, on my dresser. During a time when budgets are limited and entertainment is costly, the afternoon we spent at the museum was enjoyable and priceless.

I have to admit that I was ashamed I had not visited the museum more often before this trip. It’s one of those destinations you probably drive by often and think, “I’ll have to go by there sometime,” and then never do. Well, take my advice and go.

We weren’t able to see everything during the short trip that we took, but that just leaves the promise that there will be a next visit.

The Clark County Centennial Exhibit showcases 100 years of memorabilia, photos and information. I would tell you more about it, but then that would give you an excuse not to go down and see it for yourself.

Outside the exhibit center, you can walk down “Heritage Street” and into real homes from our county, which have been preserved. The first is a Henderson Townsite home, one of the original homes built for plant workers in the 1940’s. I lived in one myself for a couple of years, but the one at the museum is a larger model. There are very few Townsite homes left in Henderson, and they are, as my mother would say, “cute as can be.”

The street continues on with a trailer, a home from Boulder City during the building of the dam, a one-room home from Goldfield in 1905, and a few more from Las Vegas. Each house is decorated and furnished in authentic décor that reflects the time period when the house was built. Mannequins populate the kitchens, preparing meals.

It was fun to walk through these homes and wonder about who must have lived in them, what they were like, and what types of things must have gone on behind the doors. Perhaps their spirits visit often.

I need another free afternoon to go back and walk through the Centennial exhibit, and also to check out the train depot, ghost town trail, and Paiute village.

The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is definitely a must-see.

For more information call 455-7955.

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