Ryholite Ghost Town- Ryholite, NV
Rhyolite, Nevada is a mix of old ruins, abandoned cars, bottle houses, and rattlesnakes. What started as a gold rush mining camp in 1905 is now a slowly deteriorating ghost town. It is also a photographer’s dream. The land is now overseen by the BLM, and you are free to roam and explore what remains of the town.
Charles M. Schwab, steel magnate and founder of the eponymous brokerage firm, bought the local mine in 1906, and the party started in nearby Rhyolite. By 1907 the town had water mains, electric lights, telephone service, a hospital, an opera house, and even a stock exchange (natch). Many businesses flourished, including the still somewhat standing HD & LD Porter Mine Supply, whose proprietors crossed Death Valley with stock for the store.
There were also an incredible number of saloons, reportedly over 53 (it was a mining camp after all), and what better to do with all those empties than to build a house?! In 1906, miner Tom Kelly constructed the still standing bottle house out of 50,000 beer and liquor bottles. Paramount studios made a few repairs to the house in 1925 before using it in a movie shot in Rhyolite, with several additional restorations made over the years.
Another relic in town is a Union Pacific caboose, allegedly once used as gas station. It oddly contains the metal springs of a mattress, so it may also have provided other services.
The town is awash with detritus from past residents, including long abandoned cars and trucks, and various rusty parts thereof. It lends almost a menacing feel, however the downfall of the town was purely economic.
Following the 1907 financial panic, the area mines were deemed unprofitable and closed, banks failed and businesses were shuttered. By 1916 the power and lights to the town were turned off, sidewalks rolled up, and the population dwindled to 20.
Although largely abandoned, with nature reclaiming the town, tourists started to arrive in the 1920’s to tour the crumbling sites, including the bottle house and old railroad station.
Train service had come to Rhyolite on December 14, 1906, courtesy of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad. The need for materials and supplies was great, and by 1907 there were three rail lines. What they didn’t have, but needed was a depot. Because of legal disputes and construction delays, the depot was not finished until 1908. Unfortunate timing, as the tides had already started to turn at that point. The depot was no longer in use by 1916, with even the rails removed in 1917 to reuse the iron for World War 1 efforts.
In 1930 the depot was purchased for use as a private home, then later used as a boarding house. In 1935 a Las Vegas man converted it into a casino and bar, naming it Rhyolite Ghost Casino. Sometime in the 1950’s a museum and gift shop opened, but eventually all operations ceased, and the depot stands closed and empty once again.
Finally, just south of the Rhyolite is the Goldwell Open Air Museum. Several striking, and somewhat creepy sculptures dot the otherwise barren desert landscape. It is an eclectic mix of mediums, and is absolutely worth a stop on your way to Rhyolite.
