Rhyolite Train Depot
The town of Rhyolite boasted three train services using the Rhyolite Train Depot which is completed in June, 1908. The depot services the Las Vegas & Tonopah, the Tonopah & Tidewater and the Bullfrog-Goldfield train services. The Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad started its push to Rhyolite by laying one mile of track per day. Later, the railroad redoubled its efforts and pushed two miles per day its its bid to connect the booming two of Rhyolite with the outside world.
The first train entered Rhyolite at 7:00 pm on December 14th, 1906 bringing another 100 people into the town. Train service to the booming mining town was a big deal. The fact that Rhyolite could lure three train services all but ensured the future of the largest mining town in the state.
In 1907, the Las Vegas & Tidewater line alone hauled 50 freight cars per day into Rhyolite. This volume required a large depot to handle the load. In September 1907, the construction of the depot started by the Las Vegas & Tidewater Railroad. The Mission Revival styled building in constructed with concrete blocks built upon a solid concrete foundation. A gentlemen’s waiting area is located in the east end and a separate ladies waiting room is located in the west end. The ticket office is located in the center of the building and the ticket agents office is located on the second floor.
The train depot takes up an entire city block on Golden Street. The cost on construction was $130,000, or about $3.8 million in 2021.
The train depot in Rhyolite is complete in June 1908. The timing of the complete is ironic in that it coincided with the beginning on the decline of Rhyolite. Within months of completion of the depot, more people were leaving town using the station than arriving. In the first year of operation, the railroad generated a small profit. Between 1909 and 1919 the railroads lost money each year. By 1919, the railroads cut their losses and salvaged the tracks for other projects.
Rhyolite Ghost Casino
The 1920’s offered a brief revival to the town on Rhyolite. Wes Moreland purchase the train depot in 1935 and opened the Rhyolite Ghost Casino in 1937. Drinking and gambling are available on the first floor. The second floor operates as a brothel. The star of World Ware 2 halts the brief rebirth of Rhyolite. The fuel rationing almost completely drained the economy in the area.
In the 1960’s Moreland sister inherited the train depot. Mrs. Herschel Heiser operated a museum and gift shop out of the old station.
At the time it was built, the train depit is claimed to be “The finest in the state.” Today, the train station is one of the best preserved.
Rhyolite Trail Depot Map
Rhyolite Train Depot Marker Text
In keeping with its prominence as a mining center, Rhyolite was serviced by three railroads: the Las Vegas & Tonopah, the Tonopah & Tidewater, and the Bullfrog-Goldfield.
The Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad laid one mile of track per day, then two miles of track per day, in its hurry to connect Rhyolite with the outside world. The first train from the Las Vegas & Tonopah entered Rhyolite at 7 p.m. on December 14, 1906, with about 100 passengers.
It was a big deal for a young mining town to be serviced by one railroad, but three railroads were almost unheard of in the history of Nevada. With three railroads, it seemed that Rhyolite was destined to be the largest mining camp in the state and the first few boom years made this prediction look inevitable.
By 1907, the Las Vegas & Tonopah alone was hauling 50 freight cars into town per day. The large volume of freight required a large depot to handle it.
In September 1907, the Las Vegas & Tonopah began building the depot that stands before you. It is constructed of concrete block with a solid concrete foundation in the Mission Revival style. There was a gentlemen’s waiting area on the east end and a ladies’ waiting room on the west end. A separate baggage room was located east of the men’s waiting area. The ticket office was located in the center of the building, and the ticket agent’s quarters were located upstairs.
It was planned to take an entire city block on Golden Street and cost approximately $130,000 – the equivalent of $3,798,393 in 2021.
The Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad Depot was completed in June 1908, around the same time that Rhyolite began its slow decline. Within months of its completion, more people were leaving Rhyolite through the depot than were arriving.
The railroad turned a small profit in 1908 but lost money every following year until it was finally dismantled in 1919. The tracks were salvaged, but the depot was left to stand as one of the few remaining buildings from the Rhyolite boom, primarily because it could not be moved elsewhere.In the 1920s, Rhyolite enjoyed a small revival through tourism. Wes Moreland bought the depot in 1935 and, beginning in 1937, operated it as the Rhyolite Ghost Casino. The drinking and gaming were conducted downstairs, while a different type of hospitality, reportedly staffed by “working women,” was conducted upstairs in the old ticket agent’s quarters.
Like the town before it, the casino had a relatively short life. The onset of World War II, and the associated Rhyolite Train Depot Markerwar effort, including fuel rationing, completely drained the area’s economy.
By the 1960s, the building had passed to Moreland’s sister, Mrs. Herschel Heisler, who operated the lower floor as a museum and gift shop for tourists.Since the 1930s, the depot has passed from person to person, eventually ending up with the Barrick Mining Company.
In October 2000, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acquired the depot, along with most of the Rhyolite Townsite, from the mining company in a land swap.At some time before the swap, a group of local citizens replaced the historic depot roof with modern composite shingles. Although not historically accurate, the shingles have helped preserve the building in the relatively good condition that you see today.
At the time the depot was built, the local newspaper claimed it was “the finest in the state.” Today, it is one of the best-preserved examples of early twentieth-century Mission Revival train depots in Nevada.
The BLM’s Tonopah Field Office is working to restore this historic building. If you would like to donate to the restoration, a secure donation box is located to your right. All donations will be used in Rhyolite.
Please help us keep the depot in its current condition. Report acts of vandalism to the Tonopah Field Office at (775) 482-7800.
Leadfield California – A Death Valley Ghost Town
Leadfield California is a ghost town located in Inyo County and Death Valley National Park and found on the Titus Canyon Trail. The town boom in 1925 and 1926, however, Leadfield is a town that was started on fraud and deceit.
According to Legend and an article in Desert Magazine, and shameless promoter C. C. Julian wandered into Titus Canyon and started blasting tunnels. He then discovered lead ore which he purchased and brought down from Tonopah, Nevada. Julian then produced maps and other promotional materials and found investors from the East coast. The town of Leadfield was born and died on the imagination of this one man.
The truth of the tale is not quite as interesting or spectacular. According the the National Park Service, Leadfield ore was first worked in 1905. During the Bullfrog boom, which took place outside of Beatty, prospectors worked the land looking for the next big hit. In the fall of 1905, nine mine sights were identified and claimed by W. H. Seaman and Curtis Durnford. The ore from these sites was assayed in Rhyolite at $40 per ton. The men bought out a local consortium and the Death Valley Consolidated Mining Company was incorporated which released promotional material and sold shares for 2.5 cents each.
The mine and its ore did produce, however the Death Valley Consolidated Mining Company soon discovered that the expense of hauling the ore to Rhyolite and then the frieght costs to ship the material to smelters further off caused the ore to be not profitable. After six months of operation the Death Valley Colisidated Mining Company disappeared.
Despite early failures, in March of 1924 three prospectors wandered into the canyon and staked several claims. Ben Chambers, L. Christensen and Frank Metts worked their claims of lead ore for over one year before selling the claims to John Salsberry. Mr. Salsberry saw enough promise to form the Western Lead Mines Company and started to raise capital via stock sales at $0.10 per share. By the end of 1925, the Western Lead Mines Company was working 50 claims in the valley and soon began in invest in infastructure in the form of a compressor plant. A long steep road was constructed for LeadField to the Beatty Highway.
In early 1926, the Western Lead Mines Company build a boarding house and piped in water from a nearby spring. The town of Leadfield was named officially January 30th, 1926. Stock from the Western Lead Mines Company went on sale in January and within a 24 hour period, 40,000 share of stock were sold at $1.57 per share.
In February 1926 it became known to the public that C. C. Julian purchase shares and was now President of Western Lead Mines Company. Almost immediately the California State Corporation Commission began an investigation into the stock sale because a permit was not granted for the stock sale. The promoter went to work, along with several other mine operations, raise interest and money for the town. City plans were filed with Inyo County, however the spectre of investigation loomed.
Despite the arrival of a post office, investment into the location, and hundreds of feet of tunnel, C. C. Julian was ordered to cease sale of stock by the California State Corporation Commission. Around the same time, the primary tunnel of the Western Lead Mines Company penetrated to the ledge which experts predicted the highest quality ore. This ore was assayed at 2% and far too low for profit considered freight costs.
Leadfield and the surrounding mines where gone months later. Mr. Julian was blamed despite the facts that he did not start the venture, there was ore at the location, and he invested money and time towards the venture. Once his Leadfield venture faltered, he moved onto to Oklahoma and was caught up in yet another scam. Julian later fled the country for Shanghai in March of 1933 m where he committed suicide in 1923 after several more failed schemes. Julian was buried in a beggers coffin and his funeral was attended by nine people.
Mr. Julian is responsible for the road through Titus Canyon, which many is a favorite route of visitors every year.
For a detailed history, the NPS offers a great article.
Leadfield Town Summary
Name | Leadfield |
Location | Inyo County, Death Valley, California |
Latitude, Longitude | 36.8466107,-117.0592307 |
GNIS | 1658952 |
Elevation | 4000 feet |
Newspaper | Leadfield Chronicle ( 192?-19?? ) |
National Register of Historic Places | 75000221 |
Further Reading
- Ghostotwns.com
- Digital Desert
- NPS.gov
- https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2019/07/20/drilling-for-black-gold-the-strange-saga-of-c-c-julian-part-one/
Leadfield Map
Resources
Rhyolite Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town
Rhyolite is a ghost town location just outside of the Eastern edge of Death Valley National monument in Nye country, Nevada. Founded in 1904 by Frank “Shorty” Harris when he discovered quartz with load of “Free Gold”, Rhyolite started as a gold mining camp in the surrounding Bullfrog mining district. As with many discovery’s during this time period, news quickly circulated and the Bullfrog mining district was formed.
Assays of $3000 per ton were reported by the mining press of the day, and the fall and winter saw many people converge on the area despite the weather conditions. Tonopah and Goldfield saw hundreds head south in the spring of 1905, and the migration caused “a string of dust a hundred miles long”.
The townsite of Rhyolite was found in a draw close to the most important mines in February, 1905. To start, the town was a mining camp with tents and canvas walled building. Fuel shortages caused the populous to burn sage brush and greasewood as fuel for their stoves to cook and keep warm. Food and fuel were teamed into the area on daily stages and water was bought over from Beatty for $5 per barrel.
However, as was common with gold rush towns, Rhyolite quickly developed all of the modern amenities of day, including newspapers, schools, hospitals and electrical power. Six thousand people called the town home in 1907. Luxuries unimaginable just two years before include, hotel rooms with private baths, and opera house, dozens of saloons, four banks, and a butcher shop were brought to the town by three different trains.
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and a financial panic of 1907 dried up capital investment which doomed the town along with many others in the region. Rhyolite ceased to be and closed in 1911.
Today, several building shells still exist, along with the infamous Bottle House, and outdoor museum. The town is accessible via paved roads, which ruins the “ghosttown” effect and detracts a bit from the location. In spite of this, it is easily accessible and worth a stop when you are in the area.
Rhyolite is a wonderful place to visit when you are running Titus Canyon and Leadfield trail.
Rhyolite Town Summary
Name | Rhyolite |
Location | Nye County |
Newspaper | Rhyolite Herald May 25, 1905-Apr 26, 1907; Oct 11, 1907-June 22, 1912; Mar 1909 Special Ed Rhyolite Daily Bulletin Sept 23, 1907 – May 31, 1909 Death Valley Prospector Nov – Dec 1907 |
Rhyolite Map
Rhyolite Points of Interest
Bullfrog Goldfield RailroadThe Bullfrog and Goldfield Railroad, often referred to as the B&G Railroad, played a significant role in the late 19th and early 20th-century mining boom… |
Cook Bank BuildingThe Cook Bank Building is the most iconic image and popular images of the Rhyolite ghost town, in Nye County, Nevada. When John S. Cook… |
Las Vegas and Tonopah RailroadThe Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad was a standard gauge railroad which operated along 197 miles between the town of Las Vegas and Goldfield, NV.… |
Overbury BuildingThe Overbury building is a general office building built by John Overbury, in Rhyolite, Nye County Nevada in 1906. The building was one of two… |
Porter Brothers StoreThe Porter Brothers store is a ruined storefront on the main street in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nye County, Nevada. The Porter Brothers were… |
Rhyolite Train DepotThe town of Rhyolite boasted three train services using the Rhyolite Train Depot which is completed in June, 1908. The depot services the Las Vegas… |
Rhyolite Personalities
Frank “Shorty” HarrisFrank Harris was a prospector, desert rat and perhaps the best known character in western mining history. He looked the part, often travelling the desert… |
James Crysanthus Phelan – Rhyolite ShopkeeperJames Crysanthus Phelan James Crysanthus Phelan was a business man and early pioneer of the desert southwest, who like many others followed the boom towns… |
John S CookJohn S Cook overseeing bars of gold bullion. Photo Goldfield Historical Society John S Cook is the founder and builder of the Cook Bank Building… |
Walter Edward Perry Scott – “Death Valley Scotty”Walter Edward Perry Scott (September 20, 1872 – January 5, 1954), also known as "Death Valley Scotty", was a miner, prospector and conman who operated… |
Further Reading
Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining CampsNevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps - By Stanley W. Paher Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps is a wonderful book written by Stanley W.… |
Resources
- Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps, Stanley W Paher
- Wikipedia
St Thomas Nevada – Clark County Ghost Town
Founded in 1865 when Brigham Young sent settles to the confluence of the Virgin River and Muddy Rivers. St Thomas Nevada remained a Mormon settlement until 1871 when a surveying correction placed the town in Nevada. When the Mormons abandoned the area, other settlers claimed the property. St Thomas used to served as a pit stop for travelers between Los Angeles, California and Salt Lake City, Utah using along the old Arrow Highway (US 91).
The United States Federal Government “purchased” the land as part of the Hoover Dam project. In actuality, there were multiple suits as the residents of St. Thomas raise complaints about the amount the federal government was paying for their land. In time, the residence lost and the entire town was doomed to its destiny and the water of Lake Mead continued to rise.
The last known resident as Hugh Lord, who remained until the water surrounded his home. He loaded is possessions into a row boat, set fire to his home, and rowed off into history. Soon the rising water of Lake Mead swallowed the entire down, and wasted the landscape with water 60 feet deep. From time to time, the lake level will drop low enough to expose this lost town.
The town is currently exposed, and lies in the lake bed surrounded by a large expanse of tamarisk. The dirt road to the trail-head is located just inside the entrance to Lake Mead National Recreation Area when coming from Moapa and Overton and the trail is beyond simple and suitable for almost every vehicle.
The 2.5 miles hiking trail is very easy and takes you from the trail-head and loops through the town. The trail would be a bit more difficult if you attempt the trail during the hot summer months. Remains of the town are limited to foundations, some old wood fence posts and some metal artifacts such as farming equipment and a V-8 small block. The park service appears to cut the tamarisk back to expose the foundations for visitors, however the cut off tamarisk trucks can be a tripping hazard and would be harsh it you fell on one, so keep in eye on where you step.
I have been to many ghost towns over the years. Many of them lost in history due to mines failing to produce, fire, hard environments and disease. St Thomas is different from all the others. This is a ghost town by design, by protest and there is no better reminder than the fresh water clam shells which litter the site. The fact that there are viable towns (Moapa and Overton) just a few miles away make St Thomas all the more poignant.
St Thomas Trail Map
Aurora Nevada – Mineral County Ghost Town
Aurora, Nevada is a ghost town in Mineral County about twenty eight miles southwest of Hawthorne, near the California border. Aurora is often mentioned as a footnote to larger better preserved town on Bodie, CA located just a few miles away. Like most unprotected ghost towns today the town site is a just a remnant of its past, having lost much through heavy damage from vandals over the years.
The road leading into Aurora was once a 4×4 road and difficult to make it back into Aurora. Often the winter snows and spring rains rutted out the road leading to the town.
Aurora was founded in 1860 by J.M Corey, James N Braley, and E.R Hicks while prospecting south west towards Mono Lake. The “Eureka” moment came when gold and silver quartz was found while searching for water and game. Soon the word was out, and a migration of miners came up from Monoville and several other California towns. Like many boom towns, Auroras population reach about 1,400 by 1861 and just one year later was almost 6,000. Aurora boaster an 8 position stamp mill and the ore was hauled from the town via Wells, Fargo and Company. The town was constructed mainly from brick, as wood is a scare and finite resource in the area.
The Esmeralda Star was the town paper when the town reach is maximum population of 10,000. Life is town was rough and conditions were very harsh. The territories of both California and Nevada tried to lay claim to the newly prized Aurora and in the spring of 1861, Mono County was founded by California, which fixed the seat of the county in the little town of Aurora. Not to be outdown, in November of 1861, Nevada setup the head quarters of Esmeralda County in Aurora. This dual county seat arrangement lasted for two years during which time both California and Nevada maintained two different county and exercised jurisdiction concurrently.
To settle the issue, Nevada and California jointly commissioned a survey to finally settle the issue and established the location of the border. During the elections held in September 1863 Aurora had the distinction of voting in two elections. The Mono County voting was held in the police station and voters could walk over to Armory Hall to vote in the Esmeralda county elections for Nevada. Three weeks after the election, the survey results came in and Aurora was officially 4 miles inside the state of Nevada. The Mono County Officials loaded up their records and assets into Wagons and moved the seat to Bodie, CA some 10 miles to the south west.
1862 found a young Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) in town for several months looking the make his fortune. During his stay he worked as a laborer in the stamp mill for $10 a week including board. The young Mr. Clemens quickly gave up mining and sent several lively sketches to the Territorial Enterprise located in Virginia City. Several weeks later Samual Clemens was hired by the Enterprise where he adopted his pen name, and Mark Twain was born.
In 1863 Aurora is pictured as a cluster of huts made of stone, sheltered by canvas or tin roofs, with streets of wooden buildings , and many substantial brick structures near the center of town, and uncountable tents and dugouts in the surrounding hils. About 5,000 persons lived in these makeshift shelters and in the 700 houses, and enjoyed the services provided by the hotels , churches, 20 stores, 22 saloons and 16 quartz mills .
National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form – July 30, 1974
As with many gold towns, Aurora life was bright and short. Shallow mines could not support the town of 22 saloons and 20 stores and mismanagement and poor investments doomed the small town. There was virtually no family life in the town. Prostitutes made up over 50% of the female population and by 1870 the gold and silver was gone, and the town soon faltered officially closing the post office in 1897.
A resurgence of Aurora started in 1906 when mining resumed in the area. A post office was again opened to serve several hundred people, and a weekly called the Aurora Borealis was the paper of record. During the revitalization of Aurora, the Aurora Consolidated Mining Co. claimed 1.8 million dollars in gold during World War I. However, in 1919 the post office closed again and the town faded into history. After World War II much of the brick town was demolished to satisfy the demand for the used brick market in 1946.
The site of Aurora is all but gone and consisting of little more than a cross roads, a cemetery and a few foundations.
Aurora Town Summary
Name | Aurora |
Location | Mineral County, Nevada |
Latitude, Longitude | 38.2871421, -118.9006963 |
GNIS | 858760 |
Elevation | 7400 feet |
Post Office | – 1919 |
Newpapers | Esmeralda Star May 17, July 5, Sept 20, 1862; Nov 18, Dec 30, 1863 Aurora Daily Times Nov 27, 28, 30, Dec 1, 9, 11, 12, 1863; July 11, Oct 7, 1864 Esmeralda Daily Union Mar 23, 1864 – Mar 15, 1865; Nov 27, 1867 – Oct 3, 1868 Esmeralda Herald Oct 20, 1877 – July 29, 1882; Aug 18, 1883 – Apr 19, 1884 Aurora Borealis Dec 3, 1905 |
Aurora Trail Map
Aurora Personalities
Samuel Langhorne Clemens – “Mark Twain”Before he wrote American classic novels as Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens was a miner and newpaper reporter in Mineral County, Nevada. Prior to picking… |
Further Reading
Aurora, Nevada 1860-1960: Mining Camp, Frontier City, Ghost TownThis expanded Second Edition of Aurora, Nevada 1860-1960 chronicles the history of one of Nevada’s earliest and most important mining boomtowns. It is a reference-oriented… |
Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining CampsNevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps - By Stanley W. Paher Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps is a wonderful book written by Stanley W.… |