Note:

Following is my Rhyolite Ghost Town Page as it existed for many years.  Subsequent to a visit to the site in March, 2002, I must report on a few changes.  On this visit, Rhyolite had a few visitors and I learned that there is a verbal tour of the bottle house and a new web site.  Our tour was provided by an old gent who could have been Stanley Andrews as "The Old Ranger".  If you're too young, the ranger was the first narrator of Death Valley Days, an early TV series that lasted for an incredible 558 episodes from 1952 - 1975.  Our guide stared into the mountains and recited the history of the bottle house in the old ranger's voice as we checked it out.

The narration was good and the bottle house looks great after some needed restorations have been completed.  The best news is that the new web site is excellent!  After you read my page, go to www.rhyolitesite.com for the complete scoop on the old town.  By the way, Ronald Reagan replaced the old ranger on the TV show.

 - Pretty much inaccessible by automobile

 - Under water (Lake Mead) or

 - Decayed beyond casual interest.

 - All of the above

The best ghost town that is not any of the above is in my opinion the town of Rhyolite. There are still a few standing structures and several represent great photo opportunities for a tinhorn wanting to take the traditional decaying building shots back East. There is also the bottle house - a structure composed of mortar and bottles that is in excellent shape. The edifice of the Cook Bank Building (above) is the true "ghost town" image often portrayed in magazines. There are many foundations that have been identified and a preservation society, The Friends of Rhyolite, looks after the site.

A few signs explain the history and remains with photos of the original appearanceof the buildings.

Don't be surprised if you are the only one in town during a visit. This is not a tourist mecca, but the genuine remains of an extinct town not subject to exploitation. The neighboring Bullfrog mining operation has even agreed to avoid any further deterioration of this historical site.

 The following is from the Friends of Rhyolite handout available at the site:

A visit to Rhyolite is a trip back in time to the gold boom days of the early 1900s. One of Death Valley's most colorful prospectors, Shorty Harris, was prospecting in the area with his partner, E.L. Cross when they found the rock that was full of free gold. Thus began the Bullfrog mining district which launched the camps of Bullfrog, Amargosa, Jumpertown and the townsite of Rhyolite.

No one in their wildest dreams could have imagined the explosive rise of the town of Rhyolite. Within a 6 year period it catapulted to the second largest city in Nevada with the nationally known Montgomery Shoshone mine as a major backer. A two story schoolhouse costing $20,000 was built for the 250 children of school age. A three story bank building went up, costing $90,000. The pulse rate was quick as every ear was tuned in to talk of the latest strike.

The first fatality in the town was said to be an onlooker who had a coronary over the excitement of people moving to Rhyolite, where the Busch brothers were giving away free lots. Before the town was 6 months old, the population climbed to 2500 people. Eventually the estimate was 5-10,000 people.

The streets were an excited mix of pedestrians, burros, horses, automobiles, stagecoaches and trains. Ladies in satan dresses passed miners and Indian families in a colorful melee of people. Newsboys sold the Denver, Salt Lake and San Francisco newspapers while several local newspapers competed against one another. The miners union built a hospital in town and a stock exchange boasted 75 members. There were several water systems, two electric plants, an ice plant, an ice cream parlor, foundries and machine shops, an opera house, post office, hotels, stores and a very prosperous red light district. Social activities of every description were enjoyed including tennis, baseball, basketball, dances, moonlight picnics, champagne banquets, basket socials, whist parties, variety shows, bandstands concerts, boxing matches, races, parades and a circus.

With a touch of imagination, one can hear the angry mutterings in the jail where in 1908, the murderer of Isabella Heskett narrowly escaped a hanging. Isabelle was a young prostitute who was brutally murdered. The sounds of children's laughter might echo from the school house as Miss Presser sent them home at the end of the day. Perhaps you can hear the whistle of the train pulling into the depot or the tinkle of crystal coming from one of the luxurious dining rooms.

The bottle house was built in 1906 by a miner, Tom Kelly, using 12-50,000 beer and liquor bottles. Families were raised in that house which now stands so empty and still. Ghostly figures created by a Belgian artist stand guard over the ruins of Rhyolite and cast an eerie presence on the town. Please respect the site and take or leave nothing!!!

Rhyolite is about 120 miles NW of Las Vegas near Beatty, NV.  Why not take U.S. 95 out, have lunch at the Burro Inn in Beatty, and return via Pahrump.  You may see some wild horses and burros and can stop and play a few coins at the Saddle West Casino. You can still make the evening buffets and shows back in Vegas.