Ghost Towns
Like neighbouring California and Arizona, Nevada is ghost town territory. The reason is is the same in all three states, the lure of gold, silver or minerals. Wherever they were found people flocked to the area to make their fortune and in no time a tented mining camp sprang up. As more people arrived the mining camp would be replaced by a sizeable town with timber or brick buildings. Banks, Stores, Schools, Saloons, Newspaper Offices and Post Offices would be built. Then the mines would close and nearly everyone would move away leaving behind their buildings and any possessions that they could not take with them. A ghost town would be left to tell the story.
Rusting car & decaying buildings, Goldfield
The name of the town explains what was found here, the ore was so rich that they called the town Goldfield. Founded in 1902, the town grew quickly and in 1905 Virgil and Wyatt Earp arrived in search of their fortunes. Virgil was made a deputy sheriff, but died of pneumonia in the town later that year. By 1906 the Goldfield had a population of up to 30,000. After 1910 the flow of gold began to slow, floods and fire took their toll and the town declined. The Esmeralda County Courthouse is still based in Goldfield together with a residual population of around 350, but otherwise it is a ghost town.
Window of John S Cook & Co Bank, Rhyolite
Many ghost towns disappear when their timber buildings rot away. Rhyolite lives on because some of its buildings were built of brick, stone or concrete. There is even one house still standing made of bottles. The ruin of the John S Cook & Co bank at Rhyolite is thought to be one of the most photographed of ghost town buildings. This 1999 view of one of the front windows looks typical of a ghost town but is actually not authentic. Pictures of the bank in its heyday show that the windows had neither surrounds nor railings. What you see here is the result of embellishment of the facade for the 1964 movie ‘The Reward’. The railings and Plaster of Paris surrounds were removed in 2004 for the filming of the movie ’The Island’, thereby restoring the windows back to their original look. Click on Tab 2 to see the building in 2005.
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Saloon, Gold Point
The permanent population of Gold Point is now in single figures. One resident, Herb Robbins (aka Sheriff Stone) has made it his mission to keep the town alive. Now the proud owner of about half the buildings still standing, Herb and his friends have been working hard to preserve them and bring some of them back to life. To help to fund his work, Herb runs a Bed & Breakfast using some of the cabins that have been renovated. We stayed for the night in October 2005 and it was a great experience. The centrepiece of Herb’s work is the saloon in the old Hornsilver Townsite & Telephone Co. building which has been extended at the rear. The interior has been equipped with a bar, piano and shuffle board table. Click Tab 2 to see the interior.
Silver Top Mine, Tonopah
Tonopah sprang up after Jim Butler found silver in 1900. Rather than mine it himself, Butler allowed others to start mining on short term leases in return for a royalty. This created a rush to recover as much silver as possible before the leases expired. In 1902 Butler sold out to a Philadelphia mining company who began mining in a more structured manner. Output peaked just before World War I, then it was a slow decline until all mining ceased shortly after World War II. The old mines have been preserved as Tonopah Historic Mining Park, and this picture shows the ore sorting building for the Silver Top mine. While the mines have become ghostly, a nearby airforce base has kept the town alive.
Fire Truck & Post Office, Gold Point
The first town here in 1868 was a short lived silver mining “tent city” called Lime Point. In 1902 silver was rediscovered close to the site of Lime Point, and another “tent city” was born, this time called Hornsilver. By 1908 it had turned into a proper town with wooden buildings. Hornsilver never achieved the size of Goldfield - lack of a railroad, costly milling and litigation held back growth and the town peaked at around 1000 people and then began to decline. In 1927 gold was discovered in one of the mines. Gold production soon outstripped silver and in 1929 the town changed its name to Gold Point to attract investors. Most mining came to an end with World War II, but some small scale mining continued up to the 1960s.
Goldfield Hotel, Goldfield
As you approach town, the Goldfield Hotel stands out. It was built in 1908 by George Wingfield, an owner of Goldfield Consolidated Mines. With over 150 rooms it was considered to be the most luxurious hotel between Chicago and San Francisco. By the 1930s it was struggling. Lodging for Army personnel gave it a reprieve during War War II but it closed soon after. In 1985 an attempt was made to reopen the hotel, but the company went bankrupt. The hotel was bought in 2003 and the new owner has plans to reopen it but when we visited in 2005 there was no sign of activity. At least the hotel appeared still to be in reasonably good condition unlike the nearby High School which had started to collapse.
Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad Depot, Rhyolite
The discovery of gold in 1904 resulted in the foundation of Rhyolite, just on the Nevada side of the border with California. By 1908 it had grown to a city of around 10,000 people, the 3rd largest city in Nevada. Three railroad lines went to Rhyolite in its heyday. This depot building was completed in 1909 after the city began to go into decline courtesy of a weak economy and investor caution after the San Francisco earthquake. Then the mines began to run out and Rhyolite started to die. By 1915 it had become a ghost town with only 20 residents.
© Mike Elsden 1981 - 2025
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