Ghost Towns of the West

The road took us out of Death Valley to the gold-mining ghost town of Rhyolite. Beware of rattlesnakes signs,shadowed by the shells of once prosperous buildings,were testimony to the towns "ghost" status. A creative artist enhanced the town landscape with white fiber-glass ghosts and a huge sculptured concrete sofa painted in wild colors.

Miles furthur we passed Shady Lady Brothel tucked at the foot of the hills behind a large junk yard of abandoned cars. Brothels are a legal industry in Nevada.

The last great gold camp, the historic Goldfield, is still alive on US route 95. In 1910 Goldfield was a leading political and economic power and the largest city in Nevada with a population over 20,000. $90,000,000 in gold (that is about 1.8 billion in todays dollars) was mined in Goldfield. It was a city of fine hotels, theatres, and fancy restaurants. Today it's magnificent buildings are abandoned. Though it is still a County Seat, with a population of 300 it is but a whisper of it's former self.

26 miles north Tonapah, a silver mining center, is still a prosperous city. It too is a historic town, it's old hotels empty but under renovation. Casino's and motels identify Tonapah as a destination town in this remote part of Nevada. We too stopped here.