In 1863, placer gold was discovered in Alder Gulch in Montana and the rush to find the mother lode began. Nevada City and Virginia City soon became boom towns. Between 1945 and 1978 Nevada City was restored as a living historical museum which includes over 100 buildings, most of which were moved to this site from other Montana locations and restored. Today this is a living history museum. Shown below are photo tours of the doctor’s office, the Molinari Organ Works, and a few outhouses.
Doctor’s Office
Molinari Organ Works
The log house came from the Warberton Ranch near Cameron, Montana. It houses the rare tools and spare organ parts from the Molinari Organ Works of Brooklyn, New York. Charles Bovey purchased the contents of the old Molinari Organ Works about 1959 and brought the collection to Virginia City and Nevada City. According to the display:
“Bovey set up the G. Molinari & Sons Organ Works in this building to look as if the proprietor had just stepped out, his tools and equipment in place, ready to finish another barrel organ or to press, trim and punch some new carboard music. Inside this shop, you will find rare tools, machines and equipment for making or repairing a mechanical organ that may have been built over 150 years ago.”
Outhouses
Like most western towns in the nineteenth century, Nevada City did not have a sewer system: houses and businesses had outhouses. In most cases, the outhouse was a small, simple structure built over a small pit. When the pit filled up, the outhouse was simply moved to a new pit a few feet away. Shown below are some of the outhouses in Nevada City.
This is a rather unusual outhouse. While most outhouses are situated over a small pit dug into the ground, this one features a drawer system for removing the waste material.
Museums 101
Museums 101 is a series of photo tours of museum displays. More from this series:
Museums 101: The Nevada City Homestead Cabins (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: The Fort Steele Drug Store (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: The Wah Chong Tai Merchantile (Photo Diary
Museums 101: The Presby House Kitchen (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: The Parlor at the Fort Dalles Museum (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Dalles City Street Scene (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Railroad Handcars and Motorcars (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Romanian Royal Artifacts (Photo Diary)