Virgin Valley Heritage Museum Reviews

Perfect to kill a half hour and the staff was very nice. Some nice artwork but not a lot of items that knocked my socks off. No need to make a special trip but if you have an extra half hour give it a shot.

The staff was more than happy to share the information they had on the articles in the museum. I was greatly impressed for a small museum.

We had a great time visiting all the shops
Every business that participated had cookies and drinks. Plus discounts. The chamber did awesome job getting people to go. The museum had a raffle and we both won! Told us about clashes and upcoming events. We will be back

I wanted to break up our time at the pool a bit this trip and this museum and the art gallery next door were the perfect solution!
We were pleasantly surprised to take a few minutes and step back in time in this quaint, well stocked museum. I didn’t get the ladies name that was overseeing the museum but she was so helpful in not being too pushy and just letting us look. She pointed out a couple things that were interesting and then showed us how the old record player works. My kids loved it!

This museum is small and free of charge. It is located next door to the art gallery which is nice as well. The staff was very friendly and gave the history of the museum. There are some pretty good finds inside. All of the pieces on display are from the surrounding area. It is all local.

Great little museum for a small town. LIke a step back in time. the staff is very friendly and helpful.

This museum is housed in a small, historical building, yet is contains thousands of pieces from the 1800s- present. Didn't take long but was well worth it.

This little museum is chaulked with history of the area. Additionally, the docents love to provide additional information and will readily share their knowledge

The building and history are interesting. The collection of artifacts is small. The volunteers were friendly and although few, the items were interesting and appealed both to myself and my son. The art museum is next door and there was shaded tables for us to take turns waiting outside with our dogs.

Having had an uncomfortable night at Best Western, Mesquite, and feeling tired and grumpy, we so nearly got in our car to head back to Las Vegas. Very pleased we decided to stay to look round the Virgin Valley Museum.

What a lovely, random, funky archive of local (how do I find the right word here?) bits and pieces. There may be a slightly haphazard arrangement of artefacts but this adds to the atmosphere in that you have to pay more attention to details as you tour the exhibits.

Very efficient and knowledgeable staff, lots of interesting detail, and we came away having learned something about the Mesquite area and local residents' history.

Highly recommended.

I must say that this museum has a lot more local backstory to it and what makes it interesting is the great collection of personal items donated by the locals. This place has fascinating things and it is so personal that you are encouraged to feel and touch the items there unlike other museums where the items are displayed behind glass panels with strict messages to keep yours hands off the exhibits! The lady staff is such a nice and pleasant person and she is really good with her explanation and story telling. It is an active place as there are regular activities organised throughout the year. There is no entrance fees and the museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from10 am - 4 pm. This will be an educational place to learn about the early settlers of Mesquite!

This is a small museum. It is packed with local history and has an awesome docent that shares personal knowledge of the area.

A nice little museum that really goes into detail about the founding of this area of our world. And the price of admission is just right - Free.Parking is nearby and free as well. Many interesting exhibits and artifacts regarding the founding of the Virgin Valley by the early Mormon settlers.
Open Tuesday thru Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm.

Very nice, knowledgeable volunteers who gave a guided tour and even had us doing hands on activities with some of the antiques.

The staff here is very knowledgeable about the history of the area and the museum has a lot of interesting items from long ago.

Honestly, I didn't know about the museum although the building was mismatched with its surroundings and a tree blocked the sign. I happened to be parked across the street in a small (maybe historical in itself) Sears & Roebuck store. I did see a sign that said "Bake a Brick" That caught my attention, for I had no idea what the intent. In any case, tey had a class that Saturday in baking and building (shaping) a Brick. That was awesome enough but only tells a fraction of the story. The people running the museum were kind, the atmosphere can take you down memory lane and the history of the Virgin area, the Mojave and the southwest Mesquite area is an education to take with you. Enjoy !!

Very disappointing. Nice building on the exterior, but not much of substance inside. I wouldn't make a special trip just to go there.

We were very impressed with all the information that the curators at the museum gave us, very friendly and you could tell that this space meant a lot to them.

Lots of interesting stuff in this museum. We didn't get the full tour because there was a little concert going on outside, but what we heard and saw was very informative. Definitely worth a quick stop while you're in Mesquite.

This little museum provides a glimpse of the pioneers that settled in the west. The woman working at the museum the day we visited was very knowledgeable and friendly.

This is a wonderful little museum rich with history. Elspeth was very friendly and k knowledgeable. We really enjoyed our time there.

This town has many excellent artists and craftsmen and women. Their shows are always well attended, and the next door museum really shows the history of the area in a way that's very interesting.

This small museum is packed with memorabilia and historic items from Mesquite's history and heritage. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable. They had just finished a class on making butter and gave us each a roll with lots of this homemade butter. Wow! The only disappointment was seeing an older push button telephone like one we are still using at our home. A reminder of just how old we are. There is a modest admission price to help support it.

A small, but very nice free museum, but worth the time to look through some very interesting exhibits. The old time movie projector is especially interesting. Don't forget to leave a donation!

Don't make the same mistake we did. We didn't go to the museum until the last day of our trip. It should have our first stop! The people there are great and in addition to learning about the history of the area, they are a wealth of information about what to see and do in the area. Of course the museum itself is amazing.

It won't take long to see the entire exhibits. The building is quite small but considering the size, it does contain numerous items of historical significance to the area known as Virgin Valley. Founded by the Mormon Pioneers, they were a hardy group that suffered numerous hardships but persevered. Well worth the few minutes it takes to see the entire collection.

My wife and spent about 90 minutes in the museum this afternoon, and could have spent longer. The exhibits were extremely varied, ranging from local history, settlers, education, medical care, NA artifacts, etc. The two volunteers were very helpful without being imposing. This is a very worthwhile use of your time!!!!

A rather small museum but loaded with history! It was great seeing the heritage and live of how this small community started

The museum staff is friendly and very interested in being helpful, and there were some interesting items like a 1940s portable TV. There were many pictures of the founders of Mesquite and surrounding areas. What was hard to figure out was who came first, when, where, how did the towns grow? It'd be helpful to have a chronological exhibit of the basic timeline and events to the founding of the area.

Elspeth was Amazing!!! Hands down best ever experience at a museum. My kids aged 18 to 11 Loved it!!

This is a small museum with artifacts inside and out. It covers a large area historically and the displays were quite limited. Lots of artifacts and not enough space to do them justice. Visited with the host and found it very worthwhile. She was conducting a scout class on making dream catchers. Well worth a stop by.

This museum was interesting. The staff was very helpful in providing information about the local history which made the stop worth while. If you take the time to engage the staff and let them share their knowledge of the local history you will leave having learned something about the local area.

Very enthusiastic curator-guide, Elspeth. Opens a page in Mormon history to those unfamiliar, including family relations and economic hardships suffered by some.

My husband and I spent an hour or so in the museum. On arrival we were greeted by the super friendly staff and then given a personal tour! It's a fairly small museum but absolutely loaded with local history and our 'guide' brought it alive for us. Well worth a visit and remember to bring a little something for the donation box. Entrance is free but the support is appreciated, I'm sure. My favourite?? The working Victoria record player!

I lied this place and wanted to enjoy, to reminiscence, and get a feel for the product and assorted things. IF I have questions, I like someone to be available to ask. But when volunteers, use these places as a place to talk and be overly interactive, I find myself paying my attention to the volunteers, and what is going on in their mind, instead of what might have been going through the minds of those who have invented or used to use some of these items that are stored at this museum.
Because this place does not allow you to think and absorb the information, I feel this museum is probably a good place for kids,and adults who are more interested in a shallow type of learning, as opposed to fully embracing the remnants of the museum itself. to learn, but it is too small to bring a school bus full of children on a field trip.

They have lots of old stuff from the early 1900's. Worth stopping to see. The building is very old and was used as the local hospital run by a nurse for decades.

A terrific building which holds many exhibits that demonstrate how the town/ city of Mesquite was built. We we given a very warm welcome from the curator who gave us her own insight into the area. Well worth a visit if in the area and you are curious about why a settlement developed here.

WOW! It's bigger on the inside. So much history to learn about. Finding out the building itself was once a hospital is interesting as well! Almost every question was answered. Thank you for the wonderful experience.

Mesquite is neither large nor old, so a museum devoted to it is limited. But the building is quite a story in and of itself. Did you know that one of FDR's public works projects included funding teen labor to build libraries for small towns? This building was three quarters done when the war diverted all funding. But citizens completed it, and then decided to use it as a local urgent care facility. Now it is a museum-quality piece housing a museum.
There were lots of odds and ends from the town history. An amazing sculpture. Some impressive quilts with stories. A World War I era portable typewriter in pristine working order. Several volunteers were at work, going through stacks of historical materials. Worth an hour, if you have an eye for finding things in the myriad of displays.
TIP: Parking lot is behind this building and the art center.

A small museum with a lot of interesting artifacts depicting life at Mesquite during the late 1800s to current. Informative curator that interacts with you, answers questions on not only museum but area. Items like original wedding dresses, guns, farm equipment, stoves, utensils, original town switchboard, slot machine, daily living items, pictures and on and on. Definitely worth stop if in area. You won’t be disappointed. Donations accepted. Glad I stopped by

This is not a big museum, but well worth a quick visit if you're in town. The collection is rather random, but a lot of really fascinating things to see. We were the only ones in there, and the woman staffing the museum was really informative. It was initially intended to be a library, and the construction of the building is really interesting.

If you like small local museums, then this is the kind of place for you to visit.

We stopped in here on our drive from Utah to Las Vegas in order to break up the drive. This was worth the stop! A cute little museum with a lot of interesting things to look at. The best part was the staff--they were very friendly and informative. They also took the time to talk to my kids and even showed them how to separate cottonseeds from cotton.

This is a great local museum - had a personal tour with a long time resident - this is a must do if you are in the area - loved it

Not many cities I’ve been to have a museum of this caliber....it was like stepping in to a time machine! The staff was very warm and friendly and more than willing to share the history of Mesquite with visitors...I had an informative conversation with Dan about the housing market in Mesquite...completely worth the tour and the hospitality of the volunteers....so much heritage and history of Mesquite is all behind these walls!

I took my adult children here and the people there answered several questions without hesitation. There is quite a conglomerate of artifacts of the Mesquite past.

My husband and I have visited a lot of small town historical museums. Normally you wander around on your own, and ask a few questions of whomever is present.

This Virgin Valley Heritage Museum is different. The 3 volunteers here were eager to impart their knowledge and proud of the history of their area. Since we paid attention, asked questions, and obviously appreciated their input, a volunteer would check back with us every so often when they were free.

The volunteers would greet all the visitors, and if the guests wanted to wander on their own, the volunteers would leave them alone and maybe check back with us.

One of the volunteers, an older gentleman, has lived in this area all his life and knows a lot of the history. He told us about early Mormon settlers, and early farmers.

I have seen previous demonstrations of the use of a spinning wheel, but a female volunteer here at the museum was able to explain the process understandably. She showed us how to clean cotton, card it, spin it, measure it on a weasel. From the weasel the cotton thread would go to a skein. She explained the origin of the expression "pop goes the weasel"

The woman showed us a thistle (?) rack for holding flax fibers. She said in the old days, a man would give a woman a thistle as an engagement gift.

The female volunteer showed us the difference between flax thread and cotton thread, both spun in the wheel.

I liked seeing the antique butter churn, whisky still, old telephones, etc.

School groups visit this museum, but none were present during our visit.

The volunteers spent 45 minutes showing us around the museum and explaining things. They were great.

Visiting this museum was a lot more fun than spending time at the casino.

The museum is free but we gave them a nice donation.

We needed to kill some time before heading back to Vegas and stopped here because of TripAdvisor positive review. We were not disappointed! Small but packed full of local history! Curator Ericka was extremely knowledgeable and shared historical insights with warmth & genuine interest. She's a gem herself! Glad we followed the impulse to stop.

Doesn’t usually rain in Mesquite a whole lot but when it did, it gave us an excuse to finally visit the museum. We were lucky as we were the only ones there so the curator was able to share local history stories with us which made us feel like we got a personal tour. Nice little museum and it’s surprising how many exhibits they have in there. Well worth the visit.

This museum is the first stop on the Historical Walking Tour of Mesquite. This is ample parking in the lot behind the museum. The history of the building is fascinating and was readily shared by the volunteer docent. The building was built as a youth project and completed by locals. It was a library and hospital until it opened as a museum.Today the museum houses artifacts, photos, household goods, furniture, old hospital equipment and much more. There is no entry fee. A brochure of the Walking Tour is available at the Chamber of Commerce. It traces the history of Mesquite from the mid 1800's to the present. Many of the old buildings are still standing.

This museum is small but is has so much to see. So much history in this little town. Really has so much to see. I found so much of this location really interesting. The people there can give you a tour and they know so much about the early settlers here. Worth the trip!

A wonderful mish-mash of a great variety of artifacts from old Mesquite. Charming docent willing to explain what things are and the stories behind them. Ask about why the rocks are different on the lower part of the building and the upper part. Another interesting story.

The museum is very interesting with many artifacts in displays and on the walls, there is limited space available to add new exhibits. It may be smaller than in the big city's but for a small town this one gets an A+ from me. It was a slow day so had a one man tour with the volunteer tour guide who was very informative and had answers for any questions that I presented to him. I will be back and look forward to new additions to this wonderful museum. There is no charge for this museum but is by donation only.

Nice people, interesting way to beat the heat. Really great items on display. Very knowledgeable staff they are truly interested in giving you the facts and stories of the place. You can’t go wrong. It’s small but a great educational find.

The museum is a treasure trove of the history of Virgin Valley and the daily life of the people before the highways and casinos. The lady docent had a lot of information to share regarding the commerce, healthcare and education in the valley. The male docent related stores about the gold mining and the miners, ranch life, local wild horses and burros, deer and other animals. Since he had lives in Mesquite he had funny stories about his childhood tied to the area.

If you are near the area or just driving past you won’t be sorry to take a short drive off 15 and spend an hour at the museum. Best place to stop between Las Vegas and St George.

The curator was very friendly and eager to describe the exhibits, as well as the museum's history. (It was once a small hospital.) We saw household appliances, clothing, and other artifacts from the period in question, along with some Native American items. This is an outstanding small museum that is definitely worth the visit.

Neat artifacts and history and curator had interesting stories. Good way to spend a few hours if your wondering about life in the desert, years ago.

Get in out of the sun and learn something about 2000 years of recent history. Full sized skeleton of a local cave bear. Good book and gift shop, intelligent staff.

The stone building is itself lovely to examine. Very friendly staff to inform you about the history of Mesquite with a lovely collection of artifacts......strange to see things from your youth though! Can't be that OLD. Check it out.

Plan on a hour or so. Figure double that if you go with a docent thru the exhibits. Highly recommended. Exterior exhibits are cumbersome to view well. Highly Recommended.

Wanting to get away from Vegas for a day trip we headed to Mesquite. There was the Virgin Valley Heritage Museum and the Mesquite Fine Arts next door. We had a big breakfast in Vegas and headed North out of town. In an hour and ten minutes we were at the Heritage Museum and noticed that the Fine Arts was right next door!
As is typical for preserving the past, the volunteers at the Virgin Valley were a friendly group of people who had also seen quite a few year's worth of life. It did not take much from my husband and me to engage the staff. We were rewarded with stories of local lore as we poked through the amazing amount of 'things' donated to the museum.
We had an antique shop years back in Ohio. At first I was amazed to see so many items that we carried in our shop in Northern Ohio. Then, it dawned on me. Many of the people who traveled out west carried those items with them from the East. Other items were just the useful, necessary items for running a home and farmstead. They had a map of Mesquite for walking or driving that showed the landmarks of town. It was 113 degrees the day we were there so we choose to drive around a bit.
Loved the museum and the people! For sure, if you are anywhere within an hour's drive - go to Mesquite for a trip back in time!

very friendly people and a lot of interesting stuff to take your time and look and read. There was a lot inside the small building but worth seeing.

It was fun to see lots of things from our family history... old cameras, washboards, wash tubs, quilts, old stove and refrigerators and cupboard like my grandma had. Old dolls, and other toys, old kitchen gadgets, just lots of old stuff. And then a spinning wheel and a patch of live cotton plants with the cotton flowers and bolls on them. The docents showing how to de-seed the cotton, comb it and get it ready for spinning on the old spinning wheel. FREE but they accept donations. A real fun time.

Although small this museum packs a lot of local history. Our kids had an absolute blast there. The curators were pleasant to talk to and engaging. We did a hands on activity were the kids pulled the seeds out of cotton and learned how to make thick strings out of it. One curator even played a memory matching game with our boys that included real rocks. They loved it.

Great local casino. We ate at the buffet for breakfast and dinner.. The price is reasonable and the food / was very good..

If you like History this is worthwhile stop, The hosts here are full of local information and will entertain you with great stories of past and present events

It was a small building but packed with history. I love learning about the early settlers and how they lived.

The heritage Museum may be small in size but not in items displayed. A great place to see how the "Old timers" did it. Friendly and helpful staff.