Pahrump Valley Museum

Venture to the heart of the Pahrump Valley, an hour west of the Las Vegas Valley, to discover a world of fascinating artifacts that tell the southwestern Nevada story at the Pahrump Valley Museum. Managed by the Pahrump Historical Society, this museum offers a glimpse into the distinctive past and present of the Pahrump Valley via its exhibit hall, “Walk with Nature” exterior displays, beautiful cactus garden, and historic structures original to the valley. With its fascinating southern Nevada exhibits, tactile links to the region’s rich past, and free admission to boot, the Pahrump Valley Museum should definitely be a part of all your Death Valley Rally discoveries.

Pahrump Museum Exhibits

Evidence of Pahrump’s agricultural roots can be seen in the horse-drawn equipment that was used to farm nearby Ash Meadows in the 1890s and the cotton harvesters and tractors dating back to the turn of the century. Another interesting feature of the Pahrump Valley Museum is the many relocated structures on the museum grounds, which are in keeping with the museum’s ongoing mission to preserve the area’s historic buildings. Some of these significant structures include a house relocated from the 1880s Yount homestead, the old Pahrump store from 1902, the area’s original one-room schoolhouse dating from 1944, two railroad tie houses from 1946, and two redwood storage silos. More relocations of other historic buildings are in the planning stages. 

Other exhibits showcase artifacts from the region’s earliest American Indian inhabitants, which contrast with those from early Anglo settlers. There’s even a “Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository Exhibit,” telling the story of the region’s infamous and long-proposed waste depository, which was eventually blocked in the early 2000s. Visitors will also learn about the region in a series of photographs on loan from the National Atomic Testing Museum.