Nevada Ghost Town
Rhyolite Queen City of Death Valley
The financial panic of 1907 took its toll on Rhyolite and was seen as the beginning of the end for the town. In the next few years mines started closing and banks failed. Newspapers went out of business, and by 1910 the production at the mill had slowed to $246,661 and there were only 611 residents in the town. On March 14, 1911 the directors voted to close down the Montgomery Shoshone mine and mill. In 1916 the light and power were finally turned off in the town. ... Her birth was brought about by Shorty Harris and E. L. Cross, who were prospecting in the area in 1904. They found quartz all over a hill, and as Shorty describes it “... the quartz was just full of free gold... it was the original bullfrog rock... this banner is a crackerjack” declared Shorty! “The district is going to be the banner camp of Nevada. I say so once and I’ll say it again.” At that time there was only one other person in the whole area: Old Man Beatty who lived in a ranch with his family five miles away. Soon the rush was on and several camps were set up including Bullfrog, the Amargosa and a settlement between them called Jumpertown. A townsite was laid out nearby and given the name Rhyolite from the silica-rich volcanic rock in the area. ... [Read More]
Nevada Division of State Parks - Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park
Today Berlin stands as a true Nevada ghost town, preserved for present and future generations. Visitors are invited to walk through the old townsite, read the numerous descriptive signs, peer into the windows and imagine life during this colorful period of Nevada's past. ... The first mining activity in the region was in May 1863 when a small group of prospectors discovered silver in Union Canyon and the small mining camp of Union was settled. The following year the Union Mining District was formed, including the towns of Union, Ione, Grantsville, and later, Berlin. The first assay report in Berlin Canyon was in 1869, but is was not until 1896 that the Berlin Mine was established. With the purchase of the mine and numerous surrounding mining claims by the Nevada Company in 1898, the town of Berlin was soon in its heyday until 1908, declining to its death by 1911. ... [Read More]
Ghost Town Index
Late 19th century and early 20th century, settlers in the Mojave Desert were more concerned with mineral extraction than in maintaining permanent settlements. Several areas were settled and then abandoned and have remained unused. These ghost towns and mines provide sites to study vegetation recovery over periods of up to 100 years. ... Mojave Desert Ghost Towns and Mining Sites ... USGS is particularly indebted to the Arizona Historical Foundation, the Nevada Historical Society, the Bureau of Land Management, Death Valley National Park, and the Sidney Norman Weight for use of their historic photography of ghost towns. We also thank Raymond M. Turner, emeritus from USGS, for teaching us repeat photography. ... [Read More]
Nevada Cities, Counties, Chambers of Commerce, Visitor's Centers
Old Forts, Ghost Towns & Interesting Places ... Town of Pahrump ... [Read More]
Nevada Historical Marker 5
Silver ore was discovered in this range of mountains in 1864, but no important development took place until 1869 when mines were opened and the town of Pioche appeared. Pioche soon became the scene of a wild rush of prospectors and fortune seekers and gained a reputation in the 1870's for tough gunmen and bitter lawsuits. Over five million dollars in ore was taken out by 1872, and by 1900 Pioche was nearly a ghost town. ... [Read More]
Untitled Document
Bodie: Discover the historic Benton to Bodie Wagon Ride. Travel from the small town of Benton to the world-renowned Bodie State Historic Park, a mining ghost town frozen in time. ... [Read More]
US Senator Harry Reid for Nevada
Virginia City, founded when the Comstock Lode was discovered, was home to 20,000 people at its peak in 1870. Now only about 800 people live in this modern ghost town. ... [Read More]
State of Nevada
Old Forts, Ghost Towns & Interesting Places ... Town of Pahrump ... [Read More]
Nevada Historical Marker 54
To the west of you, in the foothills of the Egan Range, lie the Ward Charcoal Ovens; and five miles north therefrom the ghost town of Ward. The six well-preserved ovens furnished charcoal for the furnaces at Ward. Pinion pine was the raw material fed to the ovens. Each oven could produce a $600 batch of charcoal which sold for 18 cents a bushel. ... Reform Gulch, or Frogtown, was located a mile south of the city. Here, ladies of the night set up for business in tents. One abandoned brothel was used for a school house. No movement was ever started to build a church. ... [Read More]
Nevada Historical Marker 64
Well up into the canyon out yonder, one can still see the massive stone foundations of a costly and splendid stamp mill, as well as the stone walls of an elegant office and mansion. Here was the scene of a once busy place, now a ghost town. ... Ore was discovered there in 1865 by S. Boulerond and his compatriots. In 1864, the Murphy mine was discovered and became the leading producer; a mining district was organized. During 1865, a 20-stamp mill was completed costing over $200,000. Connected with it was the first experimental Stetefeldt furnace ever built. When the Murphy mill was built, a town was started and it grew to a population of 400, but work in the mines declined in the 1870's, and Ophir became almost deserted. In the 1880's, the mines were reactivated, and Ophir had another period of prosperity. By the 1890's the town was deserted, but some mining activity at the Murphy mine continued sporadically into the 20th century. ... [Read More]
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