Desert Destination: Rhyolite Ghost Town

After a night in pleasant Beatty, Nevada (which has trees and a very different feel from Tonopah--plus the public pool in the town park is great), we headed to the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. It was occupied from 1905-1920. After that, enough buildings remained that it became a popular backdrop for filming movies. It's one of the most scenic ghost towns I've seen.

I had been here before, and what I remembered most was the awesome bottle house built by Tom Kelly with. Most of the house is made from 50,000 green glass bottles, which provide insulation and a unique house. Nowadays a fence surrounds the entire house, so we couldn't get close to it. I was happy to see that it's still in good shape. It had been partially rebuilt in 1925 by Paramount Pictures for a movie. Nearby are a couple shaded campsites for volunteers.

So does that mean it's not quite a ghost town anymore if people live there?

We decided to tour the town by bicycle, which delighted the kids. It was early in the morning so we didn't see many other tourists, and the light was gorgeous.

The old bank--can you imagine constructing a three-story building in a mining town? They were high on hope that the ore would last!

Another view of the bank. Another three-story building in town is the school. Reports say that 250 kids attended school. When I think of early-day mining, I think of lone prospectors climbing through desolate desert canyons, but the reality of those early mining towns was quite a bit different. Lots of families made the trek to remote locations to make enough to eat and thrive.

Railroads made it possible for people to get around, and two railroads came into Rhyolite. The old railroad depot had a fence around it, as it's private property. Most of Rhyolite is managed by the BLM.


We checked out the old brothel. It was quite small, so there must have been others for a town that big.

All that was inhabiting the old brothel was a spider web.

The town may have had as many 5,000 residents during its heydey, and their trash is still around nearly a century later.

We enjoyed Rhyolite. It's easy to get to and is quite scenic. Here's more about its history.

What's your favorite ghost town?

Desert Destination: Tonopah Historic Mining Park

Ever been to Tonopah, Nevada? It's located out in west-central Nevada at over 6,000 feet. It looks a little desolate because it doesn't get much precipitation. It's cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and it feels raw, like you're in a wild place that just doesn't follow the rules of the normal world.

One of our big destinations of our recent trip happened to be in Tonopah: the Tonopah Historic Mining Park, which is dedicated to the reason of Tonopah's existence.

We stopped at the visitor center, paid the fee to go on the walking tour, and were on our way. We weren't quite prepared for what we were going to see.

Like open shafts descending 500 feet into the ground. Wow! I was trying to imagine the mine workers removing all that rock day in and day out (and probably many nights). The trails wove around 100 acres and many mines and mining materials. We soon found ourself in the park's main attraction:

We went into the Burro Tunnel, their reconstruction of a mining tunnel. It was really cool, seeing those big, heavy timbers, walking in the dim light. I would not have liked to have been a miner, a little spooky!


At the end of the tunnel we walked out on a platform and stood over the shaft that descended many hundreds of feet into the ground. Eesh! I like heights, but it felt a little strange to be over such a deep hole in the ground. I have to admit I was puzzled over the gate in the bottom of the platform--if it was moved over just a couple feet, it would have made for a much cleaner rappel. (Sorry, sometimes I get geeky like that!)



Then we continued walking around the grounds, taking in the Mizpah mine shaft and associated structures (the big red barn and headframe in the center of the photo). We looked down the grate there at a hole that goes one-quarter mile into the ground. I would not have liked to have gone down in the primitive elevator, hoping it would still be working at the end of my shift!

One sign said that the town of Tonopah still has some subsidences due to mining tunnels under it collapsing. I find that a wee bit worrisome!

We got a nice view of town as we climbed higher on the hills. It really is such a barren looking town!

Tonopah Historic Mining Park was well worth the stop. After walking around we went back to the visitor center and watched the video and checked out some of their exhibits. One of the things I found most interesting was that a woman, Belle Butler, was a huge reason that the mines had taken off in Tonopah.

So if you ever find yourself in Tonopah, treat yourself to a visit to the Tonopah Historic Mining Park!

Topaz Museum Groundbreaking

We took a break from the Millard County Fair on Saturday morning to go to the main park in Delta for the Topaz Internment Camp Museum Groundbreaking. Topaz was one of several internment camps during World War II. Over 110,000 Americans of Japanese descent were taken from their homes and put into camps for years. They were never charged with any crimes, yet they had to stay in the camps, surrounded by barbed wire fences and guards. Over 11,000 were processed at Topaz, out in the Great Basin desert.

Jane Beckwith started the push to recognize Topaz about twenty years ago. Since that time, the Topaz Museum Board has accomplished a lot. They've bought 634 acres of the 640 acre site of Topaz. It was named a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. They also purchased property on Main Street for the Topaz Museum and received a NPS grant to design the exhibits. They've raised $1.6 million toward their goal of $2.3 million. They've also done a lot of outreach over the years, spreading the word about what happened at Topaz.

That outreach has been successful, as there was a very good turnout.

Toru Saito shared two songs with the crowd.

Willie Ito, a former Topaz Internee, spoke. He was a child during the war, and he practiced his cartoon drawing. Later he was employed as a cartoonist for the movie industry. It was good to hear something positive came out of the terrible idea of Topaz and the other internment camps.

Drummers from the Kenshin Taiko group performed amazing numbers on their huge drums.

The sound echoed all around the park.

Next was the groundbreaking for the museum. It will be located next to the Great Basin Museum on Main Street. Delta is sure getting classy with two museums on Main Street!

The rest of the day included tours to the Topaz site, presentations, more Taiko drumming, the showing of the digital mapping project of the site, and more.

To learn more about Topaz, check out their excellent website, which includes links in the Digital Archive section to photos and newspapers from the 1940s.

Cove Fort

The kids had a dentist visit in Cedar City and then we wanted to go to the Millard County Fair in Delta, Utah, so instead of making two separate trips, we decided to combine the two. That meant we got to travel some different roads. We had two main route choices. I had seen that Cove Fort Days was August 3 and 4, and so that decided the route, as I had never been to Cove Fort. It's near the junction of I-70 and I-15.

Cove Fort was finished in 1867 as a waystation for travelers. It was built by the Mormons around a well in the fort. They didn't have enough water to build a town, but up to 75 travelers at a time stayed at the fort. Cove Fort was strategically placed half way between Fillmore and Beaver and was an important telegraph station and stop for two stagecoach lines.

By the 1890s, the LDS church decided they didn't need the fort any longer and leased it. They sold it in the early twentieth century. In 1989, descendants of Ira Hinckley, who had established the fort, bought the property and donated it back to the church. The church restored it, built a visitor center, and turned it into a historic site with free tours. During the annual celebration, they also have some extra activities.

Many people in period costume set up tents and showed glimpses of what life was like back in the late 1800s.

Some medical tools. I sure appreciate modern medicine!

A lot of people were having fun with stilts. We gave it a try but weren't too coordinated. Desert Boy found some kids in period costume and had fun playing with their toy wooden guns.

Then it was on to food. They had free hot dogs and chips.

While we were eating, we listened to some lovely entertainment.

Over on the side we couldn't help but notice some movement.

The Wells Fargo wagon was coming to the fort.

We decided to join the US mail for a little jaunt.

It was a bouncy five minute ride that had Desert Boy grinning the entire time. Desert Girl said she was even ready to go to Oregon. I can't imagine riding for days--or even hours--in that bouncy wagon. It would have been so hot and dusty. Those pioneers were tough.

The horses were so good natured. They had been giving rides all day long.

Next we decided to go see the fort. It's 100 feet long on each side, with walls made of volcanic and limestone rock. Those long-lasting materials are why the fort is still in existence. Two big doors allow access to the interior of the fort.

The walls are thick, about five thick at the base and tapering to two feet at the top.

The stars and stripes fly high over the fort.

From a little balcony, we could see the interior courtyard.

Twelve rooms are in the fort. Usually a tour guide takes people through the fort, but during this weekend, guides were stationed outside each room to increase capacity.

The kids weren't very patient about looking at the rooms, so we didn't get to see all of them, but we did see some. They looked surprisingly comfortable. In the winter it would have taken a lot of wood to heat all those rooms!

I asked one of the guides if the town of Hinckley was named after Ira Hinckley. She looked at me and said, "I didn't even know there was a town named Hinckley." I don't suppose too many people know that there's a town named Hinckley. It's a few miles west of Delta and on Highway 50, so we know about it as we travel that Highway quite a bit. I looked it up, and the town is named after Ira Hinckley. I had never given much thought about the origin of the name, so we both learned something.

We went out the back and saw an amazing garden. It looks so much better than my barely-surviving garden. Of course, it has a much better irrigation system!

Also out back was the blacksmith shop, which was really interesting.

A world-champ blacksmith was giving a live demonstration.

Desert Boy had never seen hobbles before.

Then it was on to play a ring rolling game. Desert Boy really wanted to succeed.

He did pretty well, but not as well as the older kids, and that frustrated him.

Desert Girl also gave it a try.

On the way back through the fort we stopped in the telegraph room, which had a morse code message tapping out. If only I remembered my morse code from those high school days when my friend and I would try and tap out messages to each other during class!

I enjoyed this old map of "Johnson's California, with territories of Utah, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona". Notice what territory Las Vegas is in?

We easily spent an hour and a half at Cove Fort. It was an enjoyable stop, and I'd go back. I'm sure we only touched on a little bit of the pioneer history that the Fort preserves. If you ever find yourself in the neighborhood of I-70 and I-15, it's worth a visit.