About Us at the White Pine Public Museum

Organized by the Ely Business and Professional Women’s Club in August, 1959. Originally the exhibits were on loan or donated through the generosity of the citizens of White Pine County. The McGill Drug Store was donated to the museum by the Culbert family and we are now known as the White Pine Public Museum and Historical McGill Drug Store. We are a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization. The museum promotes the diverse stories and history of our area for the education and benefit of all generations. In 1982 a 12,000 year-old giant Short Faced Cave Bear was discovered in Spring Valley by local cavers and is on display in our museum. Other indoor exhibits include a Lincoln Highway display, Native American artifacts, and mining history and geology in White Pine County and Great Basin Area. You can visit the Cherry Creek depot, a 1 room school house, log cabins and other outdoor exhibits including mining equipment, a caboose, and other artifacts. The Historical McGill Drug Store is a time capsule and remains as it was in the heydays of the town of McGill, including many products “on the shelf” from many years ago. This is a satellite museum, and can be scheduled periodically for tours by contacting the White Pine Public Museum at (775)-289-4710. Funding depends on membership fees, donations, our gift shop sales, and grants. Volunteers and two part-time staff operate our museum. School field trips are welcome and can be scheduled by calling the museum. When you visit our museum to learn, discover, entertain, or escape you will revisit the history, cultural diversity, and nostalgia of simpler times and the hard times in the lives of miners, ranchers, and pioneers.