Part Twenty-two: Ghost Towns and Snowplows (say what?)
Dawn: I start out towards DV, hoping the roads are open and am distracted by a sign for Rhyolite ghost town. Some history: On August 9, 1904, prospectors "Shorty" Harris and "Ed" Cross found gold on the south side of what was eventually called Bullfrog Mountain. They took a piece of ore that was about the size and color of a bullfrog in the town of Goldfield to have it evaluated. Word of the discovery spread and soon thousands of hopeful prospectors and speculators rushed to the ‘Bullfrog Mining District.’
Rhyolite, named for the deposits of the mineral rhyolite that contained much of the gold, became the largest close settlement to the mines. The industrialist Charles M. Schwab bought the most promising mine and expanded it greatly, hiring workers, opening new tunnels and drifts, and building a huge mill to process the ore. He bought another town's water and paid to have an electric line run 100 miles! from a plant at the foot of the Sierras.
Three railroads eventually served Rhyolite. By 1907, the town had an estimated population of somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000. Production began to slow down by 1908 and the mill and mine were closed in 1911. By 1910 only an estimated 675 people remained in Rhyolite. The last train left Rhyolite in July 1914. The power was turned off in 1916 and by 1919, the town was completely abandoned.
Some of the old buildings are now fenced off to protect them from vandalism including the railroad depot:
Dawn: I start out towards DV, hoping the roads are open and am distracted by a sign for Rhyolite ghost town. Some history: On August 9, 1904, prospectors "Shorty" Harris and "Ed" Cross found gold on the south side of what was eventually called Bullfrog Mountain. They took a piece of ore that was about the size and color of a bullfrog in the town of Goldfield to have it evaluated. Word of the discovery spread and soon thousands of hopeful prospectors and speculators rushed to the ‘Bullfrog Mining District.’
Rhyolite, named for the deposits of the mineral rhyolite that contained much of the gold, became the largest close settlement to the mines. The industrialist Charles M. Schwab bought the most promising mine and expanded it greatly, hiring workers, opening new tunnels and drifts, and building a huge mill to process the ore. He bought another town's water and paid to have an electric line run 100 miles! from a plant at the foot of the Sierras.
Three railroads eventually served Rhyolite. By 1907, the town had an estimated population of somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000. Production began to slow down by 1908 and the mill and mine were closed in 1911. By 1910 only an estimated 675 people remained in Rhyolite. The last train left Rhyolite in July 1914. The power was turned off in 1916 and by 1919, the town was completely abandoned.
Some of the old buildings are now fenced off to protect them from vandalism including the railroad depot:
and ‘The Bottle House’ (sorry, I didn't get a good shot):
A house built from thousands of beer and liquor bottles by Tom Kelly in 1906. Most of the other buildings, including the bank, schools, and jail, have long since decayed and partially or completely caved in.
It’s snowing and sleeting at this elevation (3,800 ft.) as I poke around the ruins, a raw day.
And it’s early so I have the place completely to myself. All the better to feel the spirit of the place - it’s kind of creepy actually. No one would choose to live here without gold for incentive, it’s bleak, dry, extremely hot in the summer and remote. How quickly they fall when the gold (money) runs out.Now I continue on to my original destination, Death Valley - will the roads be open? I descend down to 3,000 elevation, then 2000, 1000 until I am at sea level. And what do I see? A big, fat snowplow! plowing sand off the roads accumulated from yesterday and last night’s flash flooding. I travel 3,000 miles from the midst of a Western New York winter to the hottest, driest place on the continent and encounter a snowplow! Talk about ironic…
Next: Death Valley Waterfalls (again - say what?)
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2 comments:
They just wanted you to feel at home out there. At least it was plowing sand and not snow!
Believe it or not, it has actually snowed at below sea level in DV a couple of times... not much of course and it's extremely rare, but it's happened.
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