Dayton Museum Docents Prepare to Open for 2026 Season
The Dayton Museum on Shady Lane in Old Town Dayton has been closed since Thanksgiving week for the winter and is now preparing to reopen the first Sunday in March. One of the first historic preservation projects for Dayton and the Historical Society of Dayton Valley (HSDV), the museum first opened in 1994 and thousands of visitors, young and old, have toured and enjoyed it since then.
The museum is unique since it is located inside the original and first real, one-room Dayton Schoolhouse, built from local quarried rock in 1865. Another classroom to house high school students was added in 1873. Today, much of the buildings interior –like the old chalkboards, wood floors, windows, etc. – are original. Actually, it is the oldest schoolhouse in Nevada still standing at its same site and the state's second oldest existing schoolhouse!
In preparation for opening day on Sunday, Mar. 1, the museum's docents (all volunteers) met on Friday, Feb. 13, to schedule dates, learn about the security system, book sales, and for the new docents to learn more about Dayton's history. Discussions with long-time docents helps newcomers obtain information about the numerous displays. Most exhibits contain information revealing the history of their significance to Dayton's 177-year history!
Besides exhibiting indoor historical displays, the museum yard contains interesting historic items, including JohnD Winters barn, three original Old Town Dayton "outhouses", and recently, an 1860s shed that served as a storage room for fuel to heat the schoolhouse, which has been restored to its original historical condition.
One of the schoolhouse docents most interesting jobs is providing an annual walking tour each spring of Old Town Dayton to the elementary school's fourth graders, who are studying Nevada history. The walk includes the Camel Barn, Dayton Museum, the former 1860s Lyon County Courthouse (today's community center), the 1875 Firehouse Jail, the site of Nevada's first gold fine in 1849, the Cemetery, and Rock Point Mill site.
Walking tour brochures of Old Town Dayton are available at the museum. Check out our website at www.hsdv.org.
Stony Tennant and David Schmitt working on the 1860s shed in Dayton. | Photo credit: Laura Tennant
"First it was jacked up, then new foundation put in, then multiple steps to jockey it into position, drop it onto foundation on two sides, then replace rear wall and repair others." | Quote and photos by David Schmitt
