History of the Beatty Museum

It was not to long ago, that the Beatty Museum was just a dream to a few hard working people that wanted to see their heritage preserved for future generations. It all started in May of 1995 when Claudia Reidhead, Vonnie Gray and Mary Revert held a "coffee" meeting with a small group of residents, and the decision was made to start the Beatty Museum & Historical Society. The initial display of donated items to the Museum was set up in the little cottage adjacent to Claudia's home. Would this be enough to get the public interested? Yes indeed, and it didn't take long to realize the Museum needed a building much larger than the cottage.

On December 31st, 1996, the Beatty Museum moved into the local water department building, a facility that was much larger and at the time seemed to fit the needs of the Museum. Pastor Jeff Taguchi conducted the official grand opening and Kim Hickenbotham did the ribbon cutting honors. Not long after the move, this facility was overflowing with donations. Membership continued to grow including many members residing outside the state of Nevada. Then the membership roster began including names from outside the United States. It became quite clear that a larger facility was needed.

  

The next expansion came in 2008 when D&H Mining and the Amargosa Dairy along with some volunteers filled in the large hole that was on the left side of the building. Plans to build a Gazebo as a smoking area were underway and the ground needed to be leveled. At the same time the Memory Brick Fundraiser started so what a better place to put the walk than from the Main Building to the Gazebo. Thanks to many of the local volunteers the construction was on its way.

  

With the hard work and dedication that has been so obvious for the past twenty years, you can rest assured that you will see more additions in the coming months and years. The Beatty Museum & Historical Society has come a long way and there is more yet to come.