The Shoshone Museum is located 28 miles west of Pahrump on California State Hwy 127, in the Town of Shoshone.

The Museum is open 7 days a week from 8 am to 4 pm. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

The Museum building itself is over 99 years old and was originally built in Greenwater, a Death Valley copper “boom town” that is now a ghost town. The building has been a boarding house, hospital, general store, post office, private home, rock shop, railroad stop and gas station before it became a museum.

The building was moved to the Amargosa Borax Works by Pacific Coast Borax Company (near Shoshone on Hwy 127) when Greenwater folded. It served for a time as a stop on the Tonopah-Tidewater Railroad. When the railroad ceased operation, “Dad” RJ Fairbanks moved it to Shoshone where it has served many functions.

The Shoshone Museum Association came into being in 1985. They renovated the building and built exhibits using exclusively donated labor, material, etc. In 1992, Martha Watkins became Curator and the building was temporarily closed for another major renovation, again done with all private funds.

The main attraction of the museum is the skeleton of the Shoshone Mammoth, discovered by geology students from Sonoma State University in 1983.

The Shoshone Mammoth is between 500,000 and 600,000 years old and is believed to be a teenage male. He is 28 feet long and weighs about 15,000 lbs.

Other bones found at the site, including several mastodon bones, are also on display at the Museum.

In addition to the mammoth exhibit, the Museum has displays on geology, mining, history of Shoshone & surrounding areas, and the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad.

The Shoshone Museum has an informative book store and gift shop that support the project.