Rhyolite
From World travel guide
Rhyolite is a ghost town from the gold digger era.
Contents |
History
Rhyolite was founded in 1904 after gold was discovered in the area, and within a few years it's population had grown to 10,000 people. Rhyolite reached its heyday about 1910, when it was the third largest city in Nevada. At this time Rhyolite had 3 railroads, 3 newspapers, 3 hospitals, 19 hotels, 18 stores, an opera house, a symphony, about 50 mines and most importantly - 53 saloons.
By 1914 the gold mines were exhausted and the decline of the city was as fast as its growth. In 1919 the post office was officially closed and the last inhabitants moved out. Rhyolite quickly became a ghost town as the disintegration of the buildings started and the desert took back it's territory.
Today all the wooden houses are gone, and just a few stone buildings are still standing. But some of them are also just ruins. The volunteers from the Rhyolite Preservation Society care for the remains of the city, which is now an amazing open air museum.
Get in
Rhyolite is east of the Death Valley about 1 mile north of the route 395. This is about 1 hour north of Las Vegas, so it is on the way from Las Vegas to the Death Valley.
Eat, Drink and Sleep
Not provided in Rhyolite. But you can eat and stay in Beatty, which is the nearest city and is about 10 miles to the east of Rhyolite.
Get out
- Death Valley is about 10 minutes west.
- Las Vegas is about 1 hour south east.
- Reno is about 5 hours north.
