fourth ward school museum

For us, this is one of our favorite buildings to see in Virginia City. The school was built in 1876 and graduated its last group of students in 1936. Today there is a museum at the school which includes seeing the school and other Virgnia City artifacts.

A must-visit at least once. A lot of the original furniture and fixtures are still here. The bell pull is still here and there's still a bell. This is an amazing museum. It's possible to get a feel for how the children of the area lived... most of them were children of miners, and if you look at the photographs of the classes, you can begin to understand how tough their lives were. Many look like miniature old people.There are 4 floors of rooms to browse and wander, with lots of placards to read and tons of artifacts. The building is occasionally opened to groups of paranormal investigators in the evening, too.

Possibly one of the best museums I've ever been in. My favorite part is all the names scribbled on the walls by the alumni. Some of who wrote their names more than once. Seeing all those signatures from the past is just amazing.

It is amazing to think that this beautiful and large building was built for this boomtown. The exhibits within were from good to not so great but the building itself made the visit worthwhile. You get some amazing views from the upper floor windows and the wood used throughout the building is beautiful.

I was slightly disappointed of how they renovated the old school house, the floors in some places were level ,back in the 1800's those wooden floors you could hear the creaks and and wooden desks seemed nailed to the floors, which I don't ever recall that before, leaving the Old School house mean't to be "Old not New".

Unfortunately the weekend we drove to Virginia City, there was a HUGE motorcycle rally, thousands. And absolutely no place to park a car anywhere, could hardly even drive a car down a street. After a hour of "TRYING" to find a place to park we left. The desk clerk at our hotel that night in Carson City said weekends are just not a good time to go to Virginia City, they have so much going on. And they do have a lot of motorcycle rallies. The day we drove to Virginia City the road was taken over with motorcycles. It is a very curvy two lane road, so that was a little nerve racking.Before you plan on going be sure and check ahead to see what events are happening.The town look neat. Would love to go back some day.

The Fourth Ward School Museum is one of the tallest and last building on the south end of Virginia City, NV. Drive past all the quaint shops and saloons to find the history of the area in this excellent restoration of an 1800's school house.The exhibits tell the story of silver mining (the Comstock Lode) and the population explosion of the region. From the school you can overlook several of the mine shafts and tailings from mining. The school classrooms are restored beautifully and the staff are very welcoming of questions.This restoration and exhibits are well worth the $5.

After an entire day in Virginia City where I had not found any really good historical museum (most of the stores on Main street claim to be one, but his does not count), I have great expectations for the Fourth Ward School and Museum. Unfortunately, it disappoints me as well: Behind an architecturally impressive facade I find too much political correctness in the exhibits, this does not leave much space for history. The big villains seem to be the banks. Interestingly enough, since nobody invests in Virginia City anymore, it no longer has that type of villain. Or jobs. Or anything else besides trashy shops with Made In China dancing plastic dolls. So sad.-------

We had to go see this as my friend is a teacher and I was pleasantly surprised. The docents were helpful and there was more of the history of the area than I expected.

was interesting though I do think the building is haunted as I heard voices upstairs in one of the rooms, my family was the only visitor there. The voices were male and the volunteer was female.We also heard the piano in one room play a couple notes when nobody was in the room with it.

As a teacher, I knew I had to see this museum, which is in an old school. They have some really great exhibits on what education was like and also on other topics of interest to the area. The schoolroom was my favorite. Kids especially would like that part.

Thought this would just be a 30minute or so tour but kept us interested for over 2 hours. Not only showing history of the school but also a fascinating history of the mining industry of Virginia City.Really enjoyed it...do not miss it!

We didn't expect to spend 2 hours there! It was a very interesting building with great exhibits. It was $5 per person and my teenagers actually loved it.

This museum is a delight, especially the interactive classroom. the docent was very gracious and full of information. Just extremely well done. Make time to watch the video. It's pretty lengthy, but so well done!

I was very eager to tour the Fourth Ward School Museum because I am an elementary school teacher. The first thing I did was sit in the authentic teacher's desk located inside one of the school's original classrooms. Each room is chock full of local as well as the school's history. The docent was kind and obviously very passionate about the museum; she even gave my stepdaughter the opportunity to ring the original school bell.