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It's Your World ~ |
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 Ghost Towns of Nevada--by Frank Dermody I live in the Las Vegas area, and I like it here just fine. From time to time I visit the Strip or go downtown to Fremont Street, but I don't do more than play a few games of Keno or bet on an occasional football game. My wife and I do take advantage of the buffets sometimes, but we prefer Boulder Station to the joints on the Strip and more often than not we head out of town when we get the spirit to get out of the house. Where we usually go is on a trek to the ghost towns of Nevada. Let me tell you that if you think Las Vegas or Laughlin is all there is in that part of the state, you've got another think coming! There's a lot of history nearby, and it can be a lot of fun checking it out. Several ghost towns, or semi-ghost towns, are within easy reach of the city. You can take in a couple of the best of them in a day's drive if you want to. Take your camera and lots of film, and if you're visiting in the summertime take lots of extra water too. It gets real hot out there! Seriously, the best time for visiting any of these ghost towns is in the spring or fall. Wear sturdy shoes. If you choose to visit any ghost towns, please do not destroy, damage, or remove any property. Everyone should have a chance to share in the wealth of history that these sites provide. If you take highway 95 out of town you'll soon cross into Nye County, where there are several decent ghost towns for you to putter around in. We'll start with Johnnie. To get here, you have to watch for a turnoff to the left on Hwy. 160. Not a good road, but you head on south for about 45 minutes or so and eventually you'll see what's left of a few buildings. There are also bottles and odds and ends of things lying around. Unless you're a real history buff or a born again desert rat, there isn't really enough to see here to warrant the trip, but I mention it because it's about the first one you'll come across. If you ignore Johnnie and and other small side-trip ghost towns, and stay on Hwy. 95, after about 120 miles or so you'll come on the little town of Beatty. This is your place, as one of the best ghost towns in Nevada is just a few miles away. Take a break at the Burro Inn here to stretch your legs and get a bite to eat or something to drink. The folks here will be glad to direct you to Rhyolite and Bullfrog, and will probably throw in some tall tales as well. From Beatty there's a narrow paved road that will take you the 3 miles or so to Rhyolite. Interpretive signs show visitors what the town used to look like, and some of its history. Most of the old buildings are in poor condition and some of them  are about to fall down, so keep clear of the buildings while you're here.Rhyolite is a ghost town with a lot of character. The road takes you right into the heart of it, and you could get all the pictures you want without ever leaving your car but that would be a mistake. This town calls for some on-foot exploration. (Remember to be careful not to leave any trash or take any souvenirs away with you!) At one time having a population of over 10,000, Rhyolite was a good sized town. To quote a printed flyer about the place: "Founded in 1904 after what appeared to be a rich strike of ore by Eddie Cross and "Shorty" Harris, plans were made to accommodate an influx of people in the thousands. A train station was built but not a single train ever arrived for railroad tracks were never laid leading to Rhyolite. A school was built without anticipating the number of children who would occupy it. The building was totally inadequate. A second school building was constructed on a grand scale. It was used only briefly and was never filled. The panic of 1907 provided the coup de grace from which the town could not recover. By 1910, the population had shrunk to several hundred and continued until only a few dozen remained."  This is the place that has the famous Bottle House (built in 1906 by a miner, Tom Kelly, using 12-50,000
beer and liquor bottles and mortar.) This is one of the most photographed buildings in the town, and was restored
in 1925 by Hollywood for some movie. It and the train depot, excellently preserved, are privately owned. Another
often photographed building is the old bank building, which was 3 stories tall and cost $90,000 to build. Ruins
of three of its walls still stand today (see photo at top). Drive on just a little past Rhyolite and you'll come across Bullfrog. There are ruins here, but not in as good of shape as at Rhyolite. Mainly it's crumbled buildings and what's left of foundations. What makes Bullfrog worth the extra few miles are all the junked 1920s cars rusting out and decaying in the brush. These make for some great photographs! If you look north you can see Rhyolite from here, and the desolation of the area is striking. It seems amazing that so many people ever lived in such places-- until you remember how many people live in Las Vegas today! Just south of Bullfrog is the Bullfrog-Rhyolite Cemetery, which is worth a look. Some of the graves are decorated with fine  wrought iron railings around them and good stone work on the markers, others
have little in the way of markers at all except maybe a wooden cross where you can't even see the name on them
anymore. Off in a corner by itself is the grave of Mary Elizabeth Madison, better known as Panamint Annie. She
was a quite a character, who was written up in National Geographic, the LA Times and even Playboy magazine. I believe
Panamint Annie lived in Beatty through the 1960s and '70s. She's the one who said, "Listen and the mountains
will talk to you. They’ll tell you where the gold is if you listen. There’s places in this world no man has ever
been, and I’m going to find it." She's a reminder that not all the miners and other explorers in the west
were grizzled men with burros like you see in the movies.If you want, you can go about 6 miles north of Beatty to Baily's Hot Springs, a former railroad depot built in 1906 that's near a campground for RVs and tents. There are two large private antique bath houses available by the hour. These are open year round, with water temperature of about 104 degrees F, if you've got yourself all stove up from hiking around Rhyolite and Bullfrog, this might just be the right place for you! And when you're feeling more perky, take the road back to Vegas via Pahrump. You're likely to see some wild burros and cattle along the way, and you'll still make it back to your hotel or timeshare in plenty of time to take in a show and a buffet! Enjoy! |
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