By JIM CANFIELD
Moapa Valley Progress
Sitting in the heart of downtown Mesquite is a unique Museum. The Virgin Valley Heritage Museum building itself looks like it might have originally been constructed to be the town jail. But looks can be deceiving.
Elspeth M. Kuta, the current Virgin Valley Heritage Museum coordinator, proudly proudly explains that the old building has had a myriad of uses.
“The museum has been a library, a hospital, a Boy Scouts center and even a home for the head nurse and her husband,” Kuta said, “but never a jail.”
This rock and mortar building was completed in 1941-1942, on a quarter acre lot purchased for $150. It was built by the National Youth Administration (NYA) program, a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”.
During World War II, rationing and the use of coupons was a way of life for many small American towns. Money and employment was scarce, the NYA provided a way for the youth between the ages of 16 and 21 an opportunity to earn much needed income.
Young men carried rocks from the Virgin River and as far away as Beaver Dam for 50 cents a day. Walter Hughes headed the project and directed the boys during the construction.
It is no surprise that the final design of the building is very similar in structure to the Lost City Museum building in Overton. “Walter was instrumental in the construction of both buildings,” Kuta said.
During its first year, the building was used as the Mesquite Branch of the Clark County Library.
However, the town at that time suffered with a complete lack of any medical facilities.So a Dr. L.L. Gilbert, a doctor residing in Mesquite at the time, and J. Lewis Pulsipher pitched an idea to the town board of using the building as a hospital.
With a working budget of $1,000 for the year, the town asked the people of Virgin Valley to donate $35 per family. They donated labor, materials and a total of $800.
For the hospital to work, it needed a full-time nurse. So the Mesquite town board asked Bertha Howe, a New York trained nurse and resident of Overton, to head the project.
Bertha and her husband Charles had moved to Overton when Charles read about mining opportunities in Nevada. Bertha was able to continue her nursing career in Overton and jumped at the chance to head the hospital in Mesquite.
The town even built an apartment for the couple in the back of the hospital. For the next couple of years, the hospital handled everything from broken bones to birthing babies.
When doctors were no longer available, Bertha kept the place running as a First Aid Station and well-child clinic. That continued until 1977 when she was unable to continue for health reasons of her own.
The Building remained unoccupied for a couple of years until the County turned it over to the Boy Scouts.
Mesquite incorporated in 1984 and in 1985 the new city reclaimed the building to convert it into a museum to house the historical treasures from the Virgin Valley and surrounding areas.
Weary that valuable donations could be lost, the city put the citizens fears to rest by installing steel bars on each window to protect the priceless artifacts, giving it that “old jail” appearance.
Now that little museum in a small desert city draws visitors from around the world. A quick check of the guest sign-in book reveals that just in the last couple of months there are signatures of visitors from South Africa, France, Germany, Mexico, Canada and more.
If you are interested in deepening your understanding of southern Nevada and the Virgin Valley in particular, the Virgin Valley Museum is a must visit location.
