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Searchlight Nevada Museum |
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| The Clark County Museum and
Searchlight Museum guild have created and installed the Searchlight
Community Museum. Located in the Searchlight Community Center,
the museum focuses on the fascinating history of this 100+
year old community.
Founded in 1898, Searchlight takes its name from the Searchlight Mine. Mining history is a prominent part of the museums offerings, in addition to the many interesting residents of the community. Such people as Edith Head, who won numerous Academy Awards for her movie costume designs, John Macready, one of the two pilots on the first non-stop cross country flight over the United States,as well as the only three-time winner of the Mackay Trophy for the most important flight in a year. Senator Harry Reid, U.S. Senator from Nevada, and Scott Joplin, whose song, the Searchlight Rag, is named for the community, and many others have created a rich history which can be viewed in the exhibits. Covering the entire history of the community, the museum is a great way to learn about the people, businesses, and events which have made the desert community what it is today. |
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Searchlight Nevada |
| According to Nevada
Senator Harry Reid, who has written extensively about his hometown,
the most likely story as to how the town received its name was
when George Frederick Colton was looking for gold in the area
in 1897 he supposedly said that it would take a searchlight to
find gold ore there.[citation needed] Shortly thereafter he found gold, leading to a boom era when Searchlight had a larger population than Las Vegas. At the time, it was in Lincoln County, Nevada. As talk surfaced for carving Clark County, Nevada out of Lincoln County, Searchlight was initially considered to be the county seat. Between 1907 and 1910 the gold mines produced $7 million in gold and other precious minerals and the town had a population of about 1,500. Other stories on the origin of the name include a story that Colton was lighting a Searchlight brand of matches when he discovered the gold ore. Reid dismisses this story saying that the Searchlight matches were not available in 1898. Yet another story says that Colton thought the area would be a good place because it was on a hill. Colton's mine was called the Duplex because the gold ore was found on two levels. Searchlight Museum (702) 297-1682 - 200 Michael Wendell Way, Searchlight, NV 89046 Monday through Friday, 1 - 5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Admission is free. Information provided by Clark County Museum |
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