Tag: Post Office

Rhyolite Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Posted on by

Rhyolite is a ghost town location just outside of the Eastern edge of Death Valley National monument in Nye country, Nevada.  Founded in 1904 by Frank “Shorty” Harris when he discovered quartz with load of “Free Gold”, Rhyolite started as a gold mining camp in the surrounding Bullfrog mining district. As with many discovery’s during this time period, news quickly circulated and the Bullfrog mining district was formed.

Rhyolite, Nevada photo by James L Rathbun
Rhyolite, Nevada photo by James L Rathbun
Cook Bank Building, Rhyolite Nevada, Photo marked 1908 and "Courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society"
Cook Bank Building, Rhyolite Nevada, Photo marked 1908 and “Courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society”

Assays of $3000 per ton were reported by the mining press of the day, and the fall and winter saw many people converge on the area despite the weather conditions. Tonopah and Goldfield saw hundreds head south in the spring of 1905, and the migration caused “a string of dust a hundred miles long”.

It is an encouraging sign that the Ryolite Jail still stands. Also noteworthy, a brothel crib still stands as well.
It is an encouraging sign that the Ryolite Jail still stands. Also noteworthy, a brothel crib still stands as well.

The townsite of Rhyolite was found in a draw close to the most important mines in February, 1905. To start, the town was a mining camp with tents and canvas walled building. Fuel shortages caused the populous to burn sage brush and greasewood as fuel for their stoves to cook and keep warm. Food and fuel were teamed into the area on daily stages and water was bought over from Beatty for $5 per barrel.

A train caboose as found in Rhyolite, Nevada - Photo by James L Rathbun
A train caboose as found in Rhyolite, Nevada – Photo by James L Rathbun

However, as was common with gold rush towns, Rhyolite quickly developed all of the modern amenities of day, including newspapers, schools, hospitals and electrical power. Six thousand people called the town home in 1907. Luxuries unimaginable just two years before include, hotel rooms with private baths, and opera house, dozens of saloons, four banks, and a butcher shop were brought to the town by three different trains.

The mines of Rhyolite, Nevada operated from 1905 - 1911
The mines of Rhyolite, Nevada operated from 1905 – 1911

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and a financial panic of 1907 dried up capital investment which doomed the town along with many others in the region. Rhyolite ceased to be and closed in 1911.  

Today, several building shells still exist, along with the infamous Bottle House, and outdoor museum.  The town is accessible via paved roads, which ruins the “ghosttown” effect and detracts a bit from the location.  In spite of this, it is easily accessible and worth a stop when you are in the area.

“The Last Supper” and other art pieces hold court just outside of Rhyolite

Rhyolite is a wonderful place to visit when you are running Titus Canyon and Leadfield trail.

Rhyolite, Nevada 1909
Rhyolite, Nevada 1909
Cook Bank Building, Rhyolite Nevada, Photo marked 1908 and "Courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society"
Cook Bank Building, Rhyolite Nevada, Photo marked 1908 and “Courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society”

Rhyolite Town Summary

NameRhyolite
LocationNye County
NewspaperRhyolite Herald May 25, 1905-Apr 26, 1907; Oct 11, 1907-June 22, 1912; Mar 1909 Special Ed
Rhyolite Daily Bulletin Sept 23, 1907 – May 31, 1909
Death Valley Prospector Nov – Dec 1907

Rhyolite Map

Rhyolite Points of Interest

Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad in Rhyolite

Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad

The Bullfrog and Goldfield Railroad, often referred to as the B&G Railroad, played a significant role in the late 19th and early 20th-century mining boom…
Rhyolite, Nevada photo by James L Rathbun

Cook Bank Building

The Cook Bank Building is the most iconic image and popular images of the Rhyolite ghost town, in Nye County, Nevada. When John S. Cook…
Rhyolite Train Depot is located at the north end of town in Rhyolite, Nye County, Nevada. - Photo by James L Rathbun

Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad

The Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad was a standard gauge railroad which operated along 197 miles between the town of Las Vegas and Goldfield, NV.…
Overbury Building, Rhylote, Nevada. - Photograph by James L Rathbun

Overbury Building

The Overbury building is a general office building built by John Overbury, in Rhyolite, Nye County Nevada in 1906. The building was one of two…
Porter Brothers store front in Phyolite, Nevada - Photo by James L Rathbun

Porter Brothers Store

The Porter Brothers store is a ruined storefront on the main street in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nye County, Nevada. The Porter Brothers were…
Rhyolite Train Depot is located at the north end of town in Rhyolite, Nye County, Nevada. - Photo by James L Rathbun

Rhyolite Train Depot

The town of Rhyolite boasted three train services using the Rhyolite Train Depot which is completed in June, 1908. The depot services the Las Vegas…

Rhyolite Personalities

Frank "Shorty" Harris

Frank “Shorty” Harris

Frank Harris was a prospector, desert rat and perhaps the best known character in western mining history. He looked the part, often travelling the desert…
James Crysanthus Phelan

James Crysanthus Phelan – Rhyolite Shopkeeper

James Crysanthus Phelan James Crysanthus Phelan was a business man and early pioneer of the desert southwest, who like many others followed the boom towns…
John S Cook overseeing bars of gold bullion. Photo Goldfield Historical Society

John S Cook

John S Cook overseeing bars of gold bullion. Photo Goldfield Historical Society John S Cook is the founder and builder of the Cook Bank Building…
Walter Scott (1872 - 1954)

Walter Edward Perry Scott – “Death Valley Scotty”

Walter Edward Perry Scott  (September 20, 1872 – January 5, 1954), also known as "Death Valley Scotty", was a miner, prospector and conman who operated…

Resources

Carrara Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Posted on by
Carrara in Nye County Nevada

Carrara Ghost town is a small ghost town and marble mine located about ten miles south of Beatty in Nye County, Nevada on the east side of US 95.

In 1904 first attempts to quarry the high quality marble at the Carrara site. These initial efforts failed with the inability to produce larger slabs from the highly fractured and unstable marble.  More suitable deposits of marble are found in 1911. The American Carrara Marble Company laid out the Carrara town. The town was named for Carrara, Italy, which produced world class marble. 

A Metropolis in waiting

The marble is hauled by a standard cable railway down three miles from the quarry to town. This designed utilized town cars on a single track. At the midway point, siding in the tracked allowed the two trains to pass each other in opposing directions. The car at the top of the track loaded with marble would supply all the pull the empty car at the bottom of the track up the mountain on a free return.

Rail lines were already available in the Vegas and Tonopah Railroad. Water is pumped from Gold Center, NV using a nine mile long pipe line. The supply was generous enough to allow the town to boast a town fountain, which would shoot water six feet into the air. The fountain was built by the Marble Company to promote the appearance of longevity for the fledgling town.

The rail road line to town is completed in 1914. Soon thereafter, large marble blocks, which could weight up to 15 tons, are shipped to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, the large marble blocks are cut to size, finished and polished.

Eventually, the company with founded the town lost profits. The towns people saw hardship and soon moved away. With the exception of a few hangers on, the town is gone in 1924.

The town boasted a newspaper appropriately named the Carrara Obelisk ( 5/8/1913 – 09/1916 ), a post office, hotel, store, saloon and restaurant to serve the 150 people who called the place home. The site contained  about 40 buildings. The post office was open from May 5, 1913 to September 15, 2914.

Carrara Town Summary

NameCarrara Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
Population 150
Post OfficeMay 5, 1913 – September 15, 2914
NewspapersCarrara Obelisk Feb 7, 1914 – Sept 9, 1916
Carrara Miner July 21, 1929

Carrara Trail Map

Resources

Vanderbilt California – San Bernardino County Ghost Town

Posted on by
A metal headframe marks a vertical shaft in the mining district outside of Vanderbilt California.
A metal headframe marks a vertical shaft in the mining district outside of Vanderbilt California.

Located in the New York Mountains, Vanderbilt California was an short lived gold mining town which lasted just a few short years, from 1891 to 1895. The mining district is found in the northeastern section of San Bernardino County, right at the California and Nevada Border and almost within sight of Primm, Nevada.

Old Plumbing remains in the town of Vanderbilt, CA
Old Plumbing remains in the town of Vanderbilt, CA

Gold was discovered in the New York Mountains, in January 1891 by a Piute Indian named Robert Black. Soon after, the news of the strike traveled quickly and there were several mines in operation, including the Gold Bronze, the Sagmore and the Boomerang. The district was named for the the Vanderbilt Family, in the hopes the gold strike would prove as rich as the Vanderbilt Fortune. A small camp was built to support the operation and with additional gold veins found in the fall of 1892, word got out and the rush started.

Vanderbilt Business District
Vanderbilt Business District

Two years later, in 1893, the small mining camp has attracted 150 people and boasted two stores, one saloon, three restaurants, stable, lodging house, a blacksmith shop and about 50 tents. The post office was added in February of 1893 and a Justice of the Peace, W. A. Nash was appointed. A weekly newspaper, the Shaft was soon published. A railway line and water works were planned, but never completed.

A horizontal mine shaft in Vanderbilt
A horizontal mine shaft in Vanderbilt

A population of about 500 was found in the small town in 1894. In addition of adding more buildings and saw more saloons and businesses followed to service the town. Two ten-stamp mills were constructed at the two large mine sites, however the service was short lived. Almost as soon as the mills were built, the mines struck water and the ore changed and made it such that the mines could not recover gold. The town died with the gold production in 1895. 1895 also saw work on the railroad to Vanderbilt ceased. The school closed in 1898 and the Post office closed in 1910.

Exploring the ghost town of Vanderbilt, CA
Exploring the ghost town of Vanderbilt, CA

Perhaps the towns biggest modern claim to fame was one of its famous citizens. Virgil Earp, older brother of Wyatt Earp and survivor of the infamous gunfight at the O. K. Coral, owned and operated a two story building which was served as saloon and hotel in the small town of Vanderbilt. It should be known that there were a lot of Earp Brothers, and there was a lot of migration during this period as populations moved quickly from town to town looking for fortune and opportunity.

Virgil Earp 1843 -1905
Virgil Earp 1843 -1905

Town Summary

Town NameVanderbilt
LocationSan Bernardino County, California
Latitude, Longitude35.327222, -115.249722
Population500
Elevation4350 Feet
NewspaperThe Shaft
Post OfficeFebruary 1893 – 1910

Vanderbilt Trail Map

Further Reading

Pine Grove Nevada – Lyon County Ghost Town

Posted on by

One of the lesser known yet longest running gold mining camps is Pine Grove, Nevada.  Located in Lyon County, Nevada just East of the 338 highway .Pine Grove was founded in 1866 when gold was discovered by William Wilson and he founded the Wheeler Mine the following year.   Within a year the town grew to about 300 people and the site was named Pine Grove Hills.

Pine Grove, Nevada - 1880s
Pine Grove, Nevada – 1880s

A post office was opened in 1868 in the small town along with a newspaper. A two stamp stamp mill was built to process the gold and silver ore.

The town of Pine Grove grew to 1000 people by the time the 1880s came around and the three mills processed $10,000 in gold bullion in a week. At its height, the town was spread out over a mile. The citizens enjoyed saloons, three hotels, stores, assorted businesses to support the mining effort.  A dance hall was also built to keep everyone entertained.

The mining effort stalled in 1883 due to a depression in the United States. Work recovered, and the mines were again active from 1900 to 1910 with marginal results. Although there was some prospecting, mining ceased production for a final time in 1918.

The town continued to support a small population, however it finally expired in the 1930’s after over 50 years to activity.

Steam boiler, Pine Grove, Nevada, 1880s. The steam from the boiler supplied a small engine which powered a ventilation fan.
Steam boiler, Pine Grove, Nevada, 1880s. The steam from the boiler supplied a small engine which powered a ventilation fan.

Pine Grove Town Summary

NamePine Grove
LocationLyon County, Nevada
Post OfficeSept 1868-Oct 1869
Nov 1869-Nov 1912
NewspaperThe Pine Grove Chronicle ( 1872-1872 )

Pine Grove Trail Map

Resources

Manzanar

Posted on by
Manzanar Enterance and sign. Photograph by Ansel Adam
Manzanar Enterance and sign. IMAGE: ANSEL ADAMS/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Shortly after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, President Roosevelt ordered the forced relocation and incarceration of peoples of Japanese descent to relocation camps, one of which was Manzanar.  Initially, the American population and newspapers sided with the plight of the Japanese.  However over the next few weeks, public opinion soured against the Japanese.  The justification for this order was a fear that Japan was preparing to invade mainland USA and that the large population of would join an invading Japanese force.

As political pressure mounted, despite no evidence of any Japanese espionage, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19th, 1942 which authorized the military to designate exclusion zones, which allowed the military determine “from which any or all persons may be excluded.”  A series of proclamations and orders soon followed which along with public outcry greased the bureaucratic gears.   The end result was the illegal and immoral arrest, relocation and incarceration of over 110,000 persons of Japanese Descent, many of whom were second generation US Citizens.

Photographer: Lange, Dorothea -- Manzanar, California. 7/2/42 Identifier: Volume 22 Identifier: Section C Identifier: WRA no. C-837 Collection: War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement Series 8: Manzanar Relocation Center (Manzanar, CA) Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.
Photographer: Lange, Dorothea — Manzanar, California. 7/2/42 Identifier: Volume 22 Identifier: Section C Identifier: WRA no. C-837 Collection: War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement Series 8: Manzanar Relocation Center (Manzanar, CA) Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.

Located just outside of Independence, CA, Manzanar is one of ten Japanese relocation camps used during World War 2.   The 6200 acres leased from the City of Los Angeles was set aside to inter the Japanese was started and receive its first of 11,070 prisoners in 1942 and held them until November of 1945.  The prisoners were  housed 20ft by 100ft barracks arranged into 36 quickly constructed Blocks.  

In addition to Barracks, each Block communal mess hall, a laundry room, a recreation hall, an ironing room, and a heating oil storage tank.  Each family interred and Manzanar was given a 20ft by 25ft apartment barracks.  With a few exceptions, the Japanese endured their fate with quiet dignity and honor.

Photo by Ansel Adams

After the war, the Japanese detainees were released.  Many left the facility quickly, however some stayed as they no longer had a place to go.  A further indignity was again placed upon them, when once again they were forced to relocated.  Time saw to removal of much of the buildings and it quietly returned back to Owens Valley.  President George H.W. Bush issues a formal U.S. Government apology for the Japanese internment.

Manzanar is currently a historical landmark in Inyo country and offers tours of the facility.

Manzanar Summary

NameManzanar
LocationInyo County, California
Latitude, Longitude
GNIS
Population
Newspaper Manzanar Free Press (1942 – 1945)
National Historic Landmark76000484

Other Japanese Internment Camps:

  • Gila River War Relocation Center, Arizona
  • Granada War Relocation Center, Colorado (AKA “Amache”)
  • Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, Wyoming
  • Jerome War Relocation Center, ArkansasManzanar War Relocation Center, California
  • Minidoka War Relocation Center, Idaho
  • Poston War Relocation Center, Arizona
  • Rohwer War Relocation Center, Arkansas
  • Topaz War Relocation Center, Utah
  • Tule Lake War Relocation Center, California

Manzanar Map