Category: Points of Interest

The Cook Bank Building is the most iconic image and popular images of the Rhyolite ghost town, in Nye County, Nevada. When John S. Cook built his bank to three stories, it inspired John Overbury to add a third floor to his Overbury building located just down Golden Street. The structure is centrally located in the remains of the town, and photographically, very interesting. Partially for this reason, the structure is a common choice for filming locations, and even appeared in an Alanis Morissette music video.

The Cook Bank is to most iconic building in Rhyolite and one of the most photographed ruins in Nevada.

John Cook and his brother started the John S. Cook & Company Bank in Goldfield, Nevada in January 1905. Later that same year the opened a new branch in Rhyolite. The banks first location was in a rented building on Main Street. After buying a lot on Golden Street, construction of the Cook Bank Building in the spring of 1907.

One of four banks in Rhyolite, the Cook Bank Building was by far the finest. Build of poured concrete, the building was three stories tall and had a basement that housed the Post Office. The interior was finished with marble staircases and mahogany accents. It also boasted modern conveniences such as electric lights and indoor plumbing

Despite its opulence, the Cook Bank was open less that two years. In the summer and fall of 1907, a financial crisis, often referred to as the Knickerboxer Crisis, caused banks across the country to go bankrupt. By 1910, the Cook Bank was closed and John Cook had sold off all of the building’s fixtures.

Since the closured of the Cook Bank, the building has appeared in many movies including: The Air Mail, The Arrogant, Cherry 2000, The island, Delusion, Ramona!, The Reward, Wanderer of the Wasteland, Six-string Samurai, Rough Rider’s Round Up, Bone Dry, Ultraviolet and more..

BLM Plaque – Rhyolite, Nevada

Cook Bank Building Map

References

• Goldfield Historical Society

The Porter Brothers store is a ruined storefront on the main street in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nye County, Nevada. The Porter Brothers were like many other merchants, following and chasing the latest news of gold strikes and boom towns. The Porter Brothers built their building in 1906 at a cost of $10,000 and it close four years later, in 1910.

Like many merchants of the time, the Porter Brothers, Hiram and Lyman, moved from mining camp to mining camp, following reports of booms and strikes.

In 1902, the opened a painting business in San Francisco. Following the rich gold strikes in southern California, they opened mercantiles in Johannesburg, Ballarat (near Death Valley), Beatty, and, or course, Rhyolite.

Originally, the brothers bought lot on Main Street in 1905 and operated out of a canvas tent, but they soon ran out of room. They then bought a second lot on Golden Street, next of many of Rhyolites important commercial buildings.

Construction of their new building began in 1906. It used local stone and took four months at a cost of $10,000.

Before moving their operations from Main to Golden, they threw a huge three-day sale and held a public date, complete with an orchestra, in the new finished Golden Street building.

The Porter Brothers Store was very popular. In 1906, it was the go-to destination for Christmas shopping. This was due to its amazing displays that rivalled those of the major cities. In fact, the store was the largest employer in Rhyolite aside from the mines.

Unfortunately, even the popular store was not immune to the downturn that would decimate Rhyolite’s businesses; it closed in 1910. Hiram, however, would stay in Rhyolite another nine years, serving as the town’s postmaster until the post office closed on September 15, 1919.

BLM Plaque – Rhyolite, Nevada

Porter Brothers Store Map

The Overbury building is a general office building built by John Overbury, in Rhyolite, Nye County Nevada in 1906. The building was one of two three story buildings, and the largest stone building located within Rhyolite. The location of the building in about one block from the better known and more photographic Cook Bank Building.

John Overbury, a native of Orange, New Jersey, came to Nevada in 1902 and made his fortune in the early days of the Tonopah Mining boom. Like many of this peers, he came to Rhyolite hopping to be a part of the new. big boom. Local newspapers chronicled Overbury’s arrival in “a small Oldsmobile.” The next spring, he ordered a second Oldsmobile, and per the Rhyolite Herald, drove author Jack London down from Goldfield and our to Death Valley.

Construction of the Overbury building began in 1906; it was complete in June 1907. The structure was 45 feet wide by 80 feet long and cost somewhere between $45,000 – $60,000 to build.

The building was meant to be two stories tall; however, after John Cook began constructing a three-story building, Overbury quickly changed his mind and his building became three stories tall.

The Overbury Building was one the the first general purpose buildings in Rhyolite and the largest stone building. As one of the more prominent commercial hubs in town, it was fully equipped with fireproof shutters, an automatic sire suppression system, and private bathrooms.

At its height, the building housed a stock brokerage firm, the First National Bank of Rhyolite, a dentist, and attorney’s offices.

Like many of the other grand buildings in town, the Overbury Building was abandoned in 1910, and much of it was dismantled by 1924.

BLM Plaque, Rhyolite, Nevada

Overbury Building Map

References

• nps.gov