Exploring Reno's Specialty Museums

This Northern Nevada City Boasts the Finest Collections in the State

Sep 28, 2007

Souvenirs, Cars, Rocks and Antiques from Nevada, the Southwest USA and Around the World Star in the Artfully Displayed Exhibits in these Outstanding Repositories.

You’re in Reno, but don’t care much for gambling. What do you do while your friends are playing the slots? Visit the city’s specialty museums. Most of them are small, but they contain exhibits well worth seeing.

The Wilbur D. May Museum

Take the Wilbur D. May Museum, for example. The museum’s story begins in the pre-Depression months of 1929 when Wilbur, son of the May Department Stores’ founder, decided to sell his stocks and travel around the world. More than 30 trips and safaris later, the inveterate collector had accumulated enough trinkets and treasures to fill a museum – and fortunately for Reno, May had established his home base just south of town in 1936.

Built in 1985, three years after his death, the 10,000 square-foot May Museum in Rancho San Rafael Park holds everything from priceless objets d’art to gimcrack curios. Six galleries (Europa, Oceania, Far East, South Asia, Africa and America) contain artifacts as well as dioramas featuring indigenous stuffed animals. Since May rarely collected just one of anything, cases are crammed with T’ang Dynasty animals and African masks; hundreds of Oriental miniatures, dozens of pistols and rifles. Gobelin tapestries and Navajo rugs are among objects decorating the walls.

The William F. Harrah National Automobile Museum

Gambling magnate William F. Harrah was a collector, too. His antique auto collection, largest in the world, included approximately 1,500 vehicles. When Harrah died in 1978, most of the vehicles were sold, since he had made no provisions for his collection,. But the Holiday Corp., which had purchased Harrah’s, donated 175 vehicles, and a state-of-the-art building was constructed to house them.

The collection’s stars -- including the 1907 Thomas Flyer, winner of the 1908 New York to Paris race – shine in individual displays at The National Automobile Museum: The Harrah Collection (Lake and Mill Streets). The other vehicles -- most of them in mint condition – appear in rotation on the “streets” in three galleries.

Each street – complete with storefront facades and period memorabilia -- represents a different era of the 20th century. A classic gray Buick touring car and an early day pump-and-ladder truck may be parked along the board sidewalks of the Turn-of-the-Century Street. Highlights of the 1930s Street are its Mobilgas pump with red Pegasus logo, art nouveau marquee of Palace Theatre and cars like the gorgeous blue Packard convertible and cream-colored cab with scarlet trim at the taxi stand. A permanent crowd-pleaser on the ‘50s Street is the recreation of a Union 76 service station. On each of the streets, a multi-media time line of events and achievements chronicles the history and progress of the automobile.

Mackay School of Mines Exhibit

Rockhounds are advised to head for the W. M. Keck Museum (Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada-Reno campus), which displays specimens of minerals that have made mining one of the state’s leading industries. The collection was originally endowed by Comstock Lode miner John Mackay, who along with business partner, James Fair, discovered the largest silver deposit on the North American continent.

Located north of the University of Nevada Reno campus, the state’s oldest museum features diverse displays -- from turn-of-the-century telephones and architectural drawings and photos from the 1940s to early tools used by the Washo Indians and a two-headed calf. The museum also contains a library where people interested in Nevada history and genealogy can do research.

The copyright of the article Exploring Reno's Specialty Museums in Nevada Travel is owned by Connie Emerson. Permission to republish Exploring Reno's Specialty Museums in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.