Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)'s photos with the keyword: Rhyolite

Front of the train depot, the side facing down the hill towards what was the short-lived town of Rhyolite.

Former Rhyolite school.

A store front from the very earliest days of Rhyolite.

The old photo on the sign looks like it could have told an interesting story about the city.

The wonders of historic preservation – an unreadable sign. There actually is a small visitor center with a pamphlet and map, but you have to wonder why this beat-up sign continues to have a prominent spot.

Downtown Rhyolite, from the train depot….it’s amazing the structures that were built when you realize that the town only lasted a few year. Even more amazing, is the expenses that went into the structures. The tall building is the former Cook Bank Building which cost $90K to build at the time ($2.5M now). The building Italian marble stairs and imported stained-glass windows… Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyolite,_Nevada

From the caboose…..

On what was the track side of the Rhyolite train depot, an abandoned caboose. I seem to recall that this caboose was hauled here on a truck for some use, possibly in a movie – that it had not come here as part of a train.

Track side at the Rhyolite train depot. It looks amazingly sturdy for a structure abandoned for more than 100 years – which might not be the case. One article indicated that the Rhyolite area became a tourist destination for people going to Death Valley in the early 1920’s, and that the train depot was used as a casino at some point.

The Rhyolite train depot of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad, built in about 1906 and abandoned less than 10 years later. A good reminder that profligate, not well-planned building is a constant of capitalism…..

In the abandoned housing area of Rhyolite, what was probably originally a miner’s cabin – the woodwork in the interior (next picture) suggests that building may have been occupied at some later point.

In the former town of Rhyolite, a 1962 Chevrolet -- miner’s car? Probably not. The area mines began in 1905 during a gold rush, but the mines didn’t last long and started dying almost as soon as they were built Rhyolite was close to zero in population by 1920. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyolite,_Nevada

No Borders No Walls . Inside the miner’s cabin, more liberal graffiti than I expected in rural Nevada.

Tribute to Shorty Harris … and penguin. A tribute to Shorty Harris, an early miner in the area, by a Belgian artist. In the linked photo from 2007 you can see that there is a statue of a penguin next to the memorial for Shorty. I’ve always wondered why a penguin -- per the Straynger link below, the artist felt very out-of-place in the desert and thus chose an animal that reflected that sense of alienation. Straynger link: strayngerranger.com/chicago-west-rhyolite-nv Photo from 2007: www.flickr.com/photos/donbrr/3316119836

Last Supper , just outside the ghost town of Rhyolite, NV. The sculpture, created in 1984, was the work of Dutch artist Albert Szukalski who created the figures by wrapping live models in plaster (I’ve never seen a detailed explanation of how that worked). In the desolation of the desert, surrounded by worn-out and abandoned mines, it’s a moving scene – fortunately, every time I’ve seen the sculptures, there has been very few visitors to the art exhibit. Linked below is a more detailed photo of the sculpture from 2002. Sources: Artist: wandering-through-time-and-place.com/tag/last-supper-by-albert-szukalski Previous photo: www.flickr.com/photos/donbrr/3018022815

Public art in Rhyolite, NV. Rhyolite is just a few miles west of Beatty, on the route to Death Valley. Rhyolite was a very active mining town at one point in the past -- it is now abandoned but the area is maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The former Rhyolite train station, from the side that would be facing the tracks.

Abandoned cemetery just west of Rhyolite.