The Ruins of Rhyolite

Our detour to the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada, turned out to be an enjoyable experience.  After seeing the art and the bottle house, we drove further down the road to the stately ruins of a town that Should Have Been.  In 1906, the local population thought they were living in the next Boom Town. They were surrounded by gold and other ores, and everybody and his mother were going to get themselves some!  Two thousand claims were made, the most profitable being the Montgomery Shoshone mine which produced more than $1 million in bullion in its first three years of operation.

  Beautiful buildings meant to last decades were constructed.  A stock exchange, a bank, hotels, stores, a school, ice plant and a train depot all sprung up in a remarkably short time.  Yes, there were brothels and fifty saloons, but there were also basketball games, family picnics and pool tournaments.   Water was piped in and an electric line was run from a hydroelectric plant 100 miles away.  I tell you, this town was going places!

Unfortunately, a string of events happened that turned the Little Town that Could into the Little Town that Couldn't.  The big San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the financial panic of 1907 dried up capital for further development.  Charles Schwab had bought the Montgomery Shoshone mine, but an inspection by a British mining engineer, declared the ore "low grade" and stock in the mine plummeted.  In 1910, it was running at a loss.  In 1911, the mine closed.  In 1916, the lights of Rhyolite were shut off.

The town that held such promise lasted only 12 years.  It is, however, those beautiful stone buildings that make this one of the best ghost towns I have ever seen.  The train depot, still intact, was built from cut stone, hauled all the way from Las Vegas.  The upper floor was used as housing for ticket agents and train employees.  Below, there were separate waiting rooms for men and women.  At its peak, three railroads served Rhyolite.

The train depot is surrounded by chain link fence, but the other buildings are open.  We spent a couple of hours exploring the ruins and then we hiked up to the mines.  Remnants of history are everywhere.  There are  ghosts around every corner.  Eerie.  Enchanting.  The Town that Could Have Been Gone Bust.