Rhyolite, Nevada

Rhyolite is a “ghost town” just a couple of miles west of Beatty, NV.  At it’s peak following the 1904 gold rush, the town had upwards of 6000 inhabitants, three railroads (Las Vegas and Tonopah, Tonopah and Tidewater, and Bullfrog-Goldfield), a couple of newspapers, several banks, electricity, telephone, more than 50 saloons, and a large Red Light district.  By 1919 everyone had left.  Today, one can see the skeletal remains of the 3-story Cook Bank, the Porter Brothers general store, the school, and an intact bottle house.  The bottle house was built by Tom Kelly, a 76-year-old man from Australia in 1906.  He sold the house after it was finished and it was lived in until 1989 by various families.

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