Hawthorne Ordnance Museum — Attraction in Nevada

We thought we had taken a wrong turn on HWY 95 passing through Hawthorne, NV, but it must have happened for reason. The Hawthorne Ordnance Museum was one of the best unplanned stops on our spring break road trip. The exhibits on the outside of the museum (The M47 Patton tank is a great way to attract people!) were cool enough but inside of the museum was an amazing display of militaria from WWI through Viet Nam and more. An I mpressive museum by any standard! The variety of items on display was staggering and I saw items I had never seen before.

The volunteers at the museum were also a huge part of what makes this place special and worth checking out. They shared their knowledge of the museum's exhibits, war history, their own experience as veterans, the local history of Hawthorne and the role that the Hawthorne Ammunition Depot played in WWII and our nation's history. Mr. Hughes and Mr. Kovacs; thank you for sharing your time, knowledge and perspective with our family; and thank you very much for your service to our country!

I highly recommend that you take the time to check out the Hawthorne Ordnance Museum. You won't be...

You won't believe how much Ordnance history is jam-packed on this property. And it's less than 2.5 hours from Reno, near picturesque Walker Lake. We had to rush our visit, so we weren't able to spend the kind of time a museum such as this deserves. However I will return to see this place any time I can. Anyone with an interest in U.S. Ordnance, like rockets, missiles, mines, and artillery shells will enjoy this museum. There are items and articles from the local military base and Ordnance manufacturing plant. For a free museum, you will get a great educational experience any collector or historian would shell out good money to visit. Check the gift shop for inert ordnance, ammo cans, and things like tshirts and decals. Your purchases help support this fine museum! BRING CASH IF YOU WANT TO BUY ANYTHING FROM THE GIFT SHOP. THEY DO NOT...

Visited this museum about 4 years ago randomly while taking the same route to inlaws. Had been wanting to return to it ever since! Got a chance this month on same journey as before. THIS PLACE IS AWESOME! Not only do they have old news papaer clippings, bomb replicas, gun and projectile replicas, they have about 10 different ww2 infantry weapons (correct weight) you can pick up and shoot some photos of your family holding them. They have some items for sale, the highlight for our family this time was playing around and inside the tank they have in their yard. We were taking some pics with the tank when one of the volunteers saw us and came out and unlocked it for us! Kids were over the moon excited! Great place to stop on that long...