Laws Railroad Museum is an exciting side trip while passing through or staying overnight in Bishop, California. Thousands of travelers pass through Bishop on Highway 395 and miss one of California’s most fascinating historical sites.
The Laws museum and historical site preserve the Owens Valley railroad town of Laws. The original depot and other historic buildings are a fascinating look into the history of the Owens Valley. Along with railroad artifacts, over 20 buildings plus mining and farming equipment were used in and around the Owens Valley.
Old number 9, The Slim Princess, sits on a few feet of narrow-gauge track next to the original train depot. You can spend several hours exploring the buildings, including a mock ghost town: general store, Wells Fargo building, bottle house, miner shacks, and equipment.
Volunteers have finished restoring a 1927 Death Valley Railroad self-propelled car, and plans are to run track to the town of Bishop and have an operating railway. Take time to visit this excellent museum on your next trip to the Eastern Sierras.
Laws Railroad Museum Historic Site
The Laws Railroad Museum and Historic Site are on land donated to Inyo County and the City of Bishop by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1964. The Bishop Museum and Historical Society operate the museum under contract with those two agencies.
As of 1959, the town of Laws had nearly disappeared, except for the depot, oil water tanks, and the turntable. However, you can still visit the historical site and observe these historic buildings, along with an extensive assortment of mining artifacts.
The gift deed from the Southern Pacific Company to the county and city reads as follows:
“In appreciation of the interest of Inyo County and the City of Bishop in preserving the memory of the Far West’s last common carrier narrow gauge railroad, the Keeler Branch, Southern Pacific Company is pleased to donate steam locomotive No. 9 together with other rolling stock, and the Laws Station building and surrounding installations for safekeeping in behalf of generations to come.”
Stop by the Laws Railroad Museum if you ever travel through the Owens Valley. It’s a captivating destination, filled with an extensive collection of railroad and mining relics scattered across an 11-acre historic site. It would be best to take at least a few hours to explore and appreciate the museum and its surroundings.
Getting To Laws Railroad Museum
Laws Museum is 4 1/2 miles north of Bishop on Silver Canyon Road, just past the Owens River, where U.S. 6 makes a sharp turn to the north. Prominent signs at the intersection note the location of the museum. GPS coordinates Lat. 37.401, Long. 118.346.
Open all year, 10 AM to 4 PM. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated for the site’s upkeep. The museum can be contacted by Bishop Museum & Historical Society, P.O. Box 363, Bishop, California.
I work at this museum and I want to thank you for writing this.
We have a very special place here. I just started a few months ago and look forward to many years at the great property.
While admission is technically “free”, our doors remain open because of the generous donations from visitors from all over the world.
Pleas come and visit!!