In your trip along the west coast of the United States, if you have planned to visit the national park of Death Valley, riding a Nevada, to travel its desert roads, you will have the opportunity to see the ghost towns that remain in the area, which are proof of a thriving mining past.
El ghost town most outstanding of Death Valley es Rhyolite, population that at the beginning of the last century housed up to 10.000 people, which made it the largest city in the entire area.
Rhyolite you actually find it northeast of Death Valley, outside the margins of the national park, 52 kilometers from the visitor center of furnace creek, which is close to the connection with Route 95, already in the state of Nevada.
Curiosities about the history of Rhyolite, a ghost town in Death Valley
Rhyolite was founded in 1904, following the discovery of a quartz mine.
As the mining activity Around the area, Rhyolite It expanded with shops, hotels, schools and banks. Specifically, the tallest building that was built, with three floors, was the headquarters of a bank.
The town once had two churches and 50 halls.
In April 1907 electricity came to Rhyolite, but the financial crisis that broke out that same year was the beginning of the end of the rise of this town.
Economic activity fell drastically and in 1910 Rhyolite It only had 600 inhabitants.
In 1911 the main mine in the area was closed, Montgomery Shoshone, and in 1916 the electricity supply to the city was cut off.
Currently, in the ghost town by Rhyolite, at the gates of Death Valley, you will only find remains of a few buildings, the most notable being the three-story one that once housed the city bank, as well as the old prison.
I would like to visit it one day to see what it feels like because the photos look very pretty.