Rhyolite is a ghost town about 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas, near Death Valley National Park. It began in 1905 as a two-man mining camp and rose to 1,200 in two weeks! By 1907, it had electricity, water mains, newspapers, telephones, a school, and hospital. Yet, at the end of 1910, the rhyolite mine was losing money, and it closed in 1911. The population dwindled rapidly. Much of the building materials were salvaged and used elsewhere in the area. Still, enough ruins have remained to attract numerous tourists through the years. Here are some street scenes and views of the remaining structures.
Circus Day 1907.
Minors Union Parade 1906
Cook Bank
Two former bank buildings are still visible. One is the Cook Building seen here in 1908 and 1915 photos.
Overbury Bank
When Rhyolite died, many structures were scavenged for building materials. Note the stone columns by the men posing in this undated photo. Those columns are about all that is left of the Overbury Building.
Cook and Overbury
Here is an undated photo showing the Cook and Overbury Buildings together.
Finally, here is an aerial shot with the two buildings plus the Porter Store across the street. That Store and three other surviving buildings appear next month.
