Nevada State Museum free during Smithsonian’s ‘Museum Day’

The Nevada State Museum in Carson City will open its doors for free to all Museum Day ticketholders on Sept. 22 as part of Smithsonian magazine’s 14th annual Museum Day.

Museum Day is a national celebration of boundless curiosity in which participating museums emulate the free admission policy at the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, D.C.-based museums.

The theme of this year’s Museum Day is “Women Making History” — honoring women in society who are trailblazers in the arts, sciences, innovation and culture, and emboldening others to be pioneers as well.

The Nevada State Museum will offer a Nevada Women Making History photo scavenger hunt as part of its Museum Day festivities.

“Museum Day is a great reason for Nevadans of all ages to come to Carson City and connect with the many history adventures found inside the museum,” said Myron Freedman, director of the Nevada State Museum. “Ghost towns, mining, minting, the prehistoric or atomic ages — Nevada’s heritage is here.”

On Museum Day, the museum will also be operating its historic Coin Press No. 1, a relic from the museum’s day as the U.S. Branch Mint in the late 1800s, still operational today.

Museum visitors can purchase a blank .999 silver medallion in the museum store and see it pressed with one of the museum’s special designs.

The museum will also be offering limited first-come first-served behind-the-scenes tours of the Natural History and Anthropology collections.

Museum Day tickets are available for download at Smithsonian.com/museumday. Visitors who present a Museum Day ticket will gain free entrance for two. One ticket is permitted per email address.

In 2017, more than 250,000 people nationwide downloaded tickets to participate in Museum Day. A list of participating museums nationwide can be found at Smithsonian.com/museumday/search.

The Nevada State Museum will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Museum Day, Sept. 22. The museum is located at 600 N. Carson St., Carson City.