Rhyolite - A Ghost Town

Monday we celebrated another get together. This was dubbed the Official Last Supper. With coupons in hand, Sandie & Jim, Janice & Jerry and Terry & I met for another dinner at Terrible’ s Casino in Las Vegas. We were all heading in different directions the next day. We could think of no better way to end a great winter of gatherings than to meet for another meal. We’ll certainly miss them!

We had gone back and forth regarding our departure route from Las Vegas. We didn’t think the route towards Reno would be a scenic route but we really wanted to take a peek a Rhyolite and the weather in that direction seemed to be much better than other routes. There were a few things we intended to see along the way but not too many. The intent was just to get on the way.

We did get on the way. Our day started when we picked up the Hyders at 6:00 AM for a ride to the airport. They were off to Houston to spend time with the grandkids. A 6:00 AM outing for us was good. It meant we’d also be pulling out early.

Rhyolite was the place we really wanted to visit. We knew not much was there. After all, it was a ghost town. This place even had ghosts. Well, they were actually an artist’s depiction of the ghosts but we found them interesting along with the tumbling down buildings.

Gold was discovered here in 1904 and prospectors flocked in hoping to find their fortune. At one time this place was bustling with over 10,000 occupants searching for gold. The town was active and built up just about as fast as it fell down. What we saw were just the remains of what the bustling town used to be.

One house still standing in town became known as the “bottle house” because it was built from the only materials the prospector had --- whiskey bottles. There were over 50 saloons at one time and he found a use for many of the empty whiskey bottles probably from some of those saloons.

The remains of a few other buildings leave an eerie feeling to the town and the peacefulness of the desert. The general store or what is left of it can be seen in the distance as well as partial buildings.

It was an interesting route from Las Vegas to Reno. Rhyolite was just 4 miles off of Hwy 95 so now we can say been there, done that. More on the actual route to come. It was a long day and certainly different than traveling north through California.