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Founded in 1904 and dead by 1916, Rhyolite was one of several short-lived boom-towns from the late Gold Rush era. People were drawn to the desert on the edge of Death Valley by the promise of gold found amongst quartz in local mines, and by 1906 the town had all the promising indicators of permanence with the largest population in the area.
After the uncovering of extremely valuable gold in this region by Frank “Shorty” Harris and Ernest “Ed” Cross, several mining camps including Rhyolite popped up. This region later became known as the Bullfrog Mining District.
While mining camps were common in this era, Rhyolite stood out because of the tremendous value in the ore samples. During the early 1900s, ore samples brought in $3000 a ton…in modern time that would equate to almost $90,000 per ton. Word of this wildly lucrative operation spread all the way north to Tonopah, and what originally started as a two-tent mining camp soon boomed to an estimated 5,000 people within six short months. Just as if the town literally sprung up overnight, by this time Rhyolite already had 50 saloons, 35 gambling tables, 19 lodging houses, 16 restaurants, several barbers, a public bath house, and the Rhyolite Herald – a weekly newspaper publication.
Rhyolite had gained such tremendous success that it soon caught the attention of industrialist Charles M. Schwab. By 1906, Schwab had purchased the Bullfrog Mining District and elevated the operation from good to grand with the implementation of electricity, plumbing and even contracted with the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad to run a spur line to the area. Before long, three railroads eventually served Rhyolite, and just one year later the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad (RRT) began service to Rhyolite.
Below is an image of the original railroad station, one of the last buildings left completely standing in Rhyolite. Also Pictured is an old train car that sits abandoned across from the station.
 IMG_1158 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
 IMG_1163 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
 IMG_1164 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
While Rhyolite and the Bullfrog Mining District produced more than $1 million within three short years (about $28 million by today’s standards,) this boomtown declined almost as rapidly as it came to life. Like most other has-been mining communities, the high-grade ore began to diminish, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake proved to be the kiss of death as the rail service was seriously disrupted. By 1910 mines began to close, businesses failed, and workers sought employment elsewhere. By 1914 the banks, newspapers post office and train depot closed, and power companies began to shut down the electricity. Within just one short year the entire town was basically abandoned, and by 1920 only 14 people called Rhyolite home.
After the area was completely abandoned, several motion picture companies used Rhyolite as a setting for their films. With countless opportunities for a true Wild West backdrop in Rhyolite, perhaps the most pristine is the Kelly bottle house (pictured below), built completely out of medicine, beer and whisky bottles. Restored for a Paramount Pictures film in 1926, the house still stands today and is the oldest and largest bottle house in the United States.
 IMG_1214 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
This abandoned and rusted truck pictured below sits just outside of the Kelly bottle house.
 IMG_1216 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
Below we see the remnants of the tallest building in Rhyolite, the Cook Bank. At the time, this 3-story bank cost $90,000 to build which is equivalent to about $2.5 million today.
 IMG_1172 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
 IMG_1178 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
At its peak, Rhyolite's school had more than 200 children. Pictured below is the second school built in Rhyolite, built at the cost of $20,000 in 1909 (equivalent to $500,000 today). It once had a Spanish tile roof and bell tower.
 IMG_1192 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
 IMG_1195 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
Disclaimer: This is my very first UER post that actually involves urbex in some form or another. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read this and check out the pictures I have taken. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
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I like this post a lot. Thanks for sharing!
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Tidbit of trivia...
Some of the buildings were used in the 2005 movie 'The Island'
*insert witty quote here* | |
Posted by Wheedle
2005 movie 'The Island'
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Rotten Tomatoes critic review, rotten @ 40%. None the less - I am intrigued by the story line. Will be checking Netflix and Prime this evening! I dig movies about post-apocalypse and survival. Throw in abandonment or tunnels, and I am all in....
Give abandonment a reason for its sacrificial reclamation to nature. Love it. Remember it. Take a picture. Share it. Leave the decay to nature.
Lifetime member of The Anti-MyInstaTubeTweetFace consortium. | |
Posted by Sorenson14
Rhyolite was one of several short-lived boom-towns from the late Gold Rush era.
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This must have been a cool explore. Long been fascinated with mines and ghost towns.... Thanks for sharing!
Give abandonment a reason for its sacrificial reclamation to nature. Love it. Remember it. Take a picture. Share it. Leave the decay to nature.
Lifetime member of The Anti-MyInstaTubeTweetFace consortium. | |
Great post, I rode through Rhyolite back in December:
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=127315
I never saw the bottle house, though, very cool, we have a couple of those tucked away in the canyons of BC. Absolutely love cruising around the edges of Nevada and Death Valley, very interesting place with some really cool history.
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Posted by Mr. Bitey
Rotten Tomatoes critic review, rotten @ 40%. None the less - I am intrigued by the story line. Will be checking Netflix and Prime this evening! I dig movies about post-apocalypse and survival. Throw in abandonment or tunnels, and I am all in....
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Honestly, I thought it was an ok movie.
*insert witty quote here* | |
Excellent splore Sorenson14
The bottle house is way cool.
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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Awesome shots! Ive seen the bank before but didnt realize that amazing train station was in the same area!
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Rhyolite would be a great spot for some night photography.
I liked "The Island" myself. I'll have to rewatch it.
@SparklePyre | |
Bump. Here's some photos I took while there last year, including exterior & detail shots of the bottle house and train depot.1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
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man these are awesome!!!
Kabbalah is an undramatic tradition that requires great patience and stability. One of the reasons for this tempo is that everyone has to mature his potential gradually and thoroughly at his natural pace. In this way his life's work unfolds at the right moment in his own and the cosmos's time.
Z.B.S. Halevi -- Kabbalah | |
Posted by Sorenson14
Founded in 1904 and dead by 1916, Rhyolite was one of several short-lived boom-towns from the late Gold Rush era. People were drawn to the desert on the edge of Death Valley by the promise of gold found amongst quartz in local mines, and by 1906 the town had all the promising indicators of permanence with the largest population in the area.
After the uncovering of extremely valuable gold in this region by Frank “Shorty” Harris and Ernest “Ed” Cross, several mining camps including Rhyolite popped up. This region later became known as the Bullfrog Mining District.
While mining camps were common in this era, Rhyolite stood out because of the tremendous value in the ore samples. During the early 1900s, ore samples brought in $3000 a ton…in modern time that would equate to almost $90,000 per ton. Word of this wildly lucrative operation spread all the way north to Tonopah, and what originally started as a two-tent mining camp soon boomed to an estimated 5,000 people within six short months. Just as if the town literally sprung up overnight, by this time Rhyolite already had 50 saloons, 35 gambling tables, 19 lodging houses, 16 restaurants, several barbers, a public bath house, and the Rhyolite Herald – a weekly newspaper publication.
Rhyolite had gained such tremendous success that it soon caught the attention of industrialist Charles M. Schwab. By 1906, Schwab had purchased the Bullfrog Mining District and elevated the operation from good to grand with the implementation of electricity, plumbing and even contracted with the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad to run a spur line to the area. Before long, three railroads eventually served Rhyolite, and just one year later the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad (RRT) began service to Rhyolite.
Below is an image of the original railroad station, one of the last buildings left completely standing in Rhyolite. Also Pictured is an old train car that sits abandoned across from the station.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1885/43406585775_9abaae09a9_c.jpgIMG_1158 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1867/44264829432_56a17ac28d_c.jpgIMG_1163 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1859/44264820752_8f1de1dc49_c.jpgIMG_1164 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
While Rhyolite and the Bullfrog Mining District produced more than $1 million within three short years (about $28 million by today’s standards,) this boomtown declined almost as rapidly as it came to life. Like most other has-been mining communities, the high-grade ore began to diminish, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake proved to be the kiss of death as the rail service was seriously disrupted. By 1910 mines began to close, businesses failed, and workers sought employment elsewhere. By 1914 the banks, newspapers post office and train depot closed, and power companies began to shut down the electricity. Within just one short year the entire town was basically abandoned, and by 1920 only 14 people called Rhyolite home.
After the area was completely abandoned, several motion picture companies used Rhyolite as a setting for their films. With countless opportunities for a true Wild West backdrop in Rhyolite, perhaps the most pristine is the Kelly bottle house (pictured below), built completely out of medicine, beer and whisky bottles. Restored for a Paramount Pictures film in 1926, the house still stands today and is the oldest and largest bottle house in the United States.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1894/42505152840_8fa0c69cb9_c.jpgIMG_1214 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
This abandoned and rusted truck pictured below sits just outside of the Kelly bottle house.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1861/44312736911_c4b8a56627_c.jpgIMG_1216 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
Below we see the remnants of the tallest building in Rhyolite, the Cook Bank. At the time, this 3-story bank cost $90,000 to build which is equivalent to about $2.5 million today.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1882/44264816012_07fcdbb3b3_c.jpgIMG_1172 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1872/43595778624_dbd0f7cb6c_c.jpgIMG_1178 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
At its peak, Rhyolite's school had more than 200 children. Pictured below is the second school built in Rhyolite, built at the cost of $20,000 in 1909 (equivalent to $500,000 today). It once had a Spanish tile roof and bell tower.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1844/43595768604_d6cd049ffd_c.jpgIMG_1192 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1865/43595758434_41c8f45a8c_c.jpgIMG_1195 by Shad Sorenson, on Flickr
Disclaimer: This is my very first UER post that actually involves urbex in some form or another. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read this and check out the pictures I have taken. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
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well done loving the blue sky!!!
Kabbalah is an undramatic tradition that requires great patience and stability. One of the reasons for this tempo is that everyone has to mature his potential gradually and thoroughly at his natural pace. In this way his life's work unfolds at the right moment in his own and the cosmos's time.
Z.B.S. Halevi -- Kabbalah | |
You just can't go wrong when you visit Rhyolite with a camera. I'm fortunate that it's only about 125 miles north of Vegaas. It is one of the most photogenic ghost towns that I've ever visited. It's interesting that when they laid out the town, that they even had underground water supplied to the lots. Pretty rare back in those times.
Although the main street must have been beautiful, I imagine many of the surrounding homes were very simple affairs.
Abby
[last edit 8/16/2019 5:01 PM by Abby Normal - edited 1 times]
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