The Rapid Rise and Fall of the Historic Ghost Town of Rhyolite, Nevada

In the short 15 minutes of this video I learned more than watching hours of videos of other vlogers about this town. You are my favorite historical vloger.

I first went to Rhyolite in the very early '70's as a 10 year old kid with my Dad and my brother. A few years later, as a teen, I "accidentally" opened a Penthouse magazine and looked at a layout of a young lady posing in the ruins of Rhyolite, with one memorable photo being of her standing in the second story window of the Cook Bank Building. 😀 I was there again about 10 years ago; the art and sculpture that was there gave the place a completely different vibe. Thanks for the great video, Steve.

I was about 14 when my grandfather showed me a beautiful greenish-gold hunk of rock about the size of his fist that sparkled all over and he told me that his Dad, my GGF was a young man working at the Bullfrog Mine, living in Beaty when he slipped that rock into his pocket as a souvenir of his time there. He's been gone for years now and I'm an old man myself but I'm always reminded of how hard those "Old Timers" had to work in those days. After Rhyolite my GGF went to the No Cal Coast and made a living cutting redwood railroad ties with saws and axes for 5 cents each.

Not sure why you only have 120K followers. Some of the best content on YouTube. Thanks for sharing.

Rhyolite has such an overwhelming sense of melancholy. To look at the old photos of it in heyday, in comparison to today is so sad. One can't help but think of the men, women, and children that lived there. The hustle and bustle of the residents going about their daily routines. The loves won and lost. The sounds of a busy city, voices and laughter, the train whistles, children playing, the occasional barking dog, now silent. No one lives there now but the ghosts of the past. Thank you for making this video. Jack

Westmorland was my mother's cousin, black sheep of the family. He willed his Rhyolite holdings to his sister Freddie. They were from Atlanta, children of strict Baptist minister. Freddie lived in the depot and ran a little museum and gift shop when we visited.

I honestly envy the fact that you’re traveling to all these wild destinations especially here in the US. Once the kids get a little bit older I plan to travel a little more like I used but seeing all these places you’re sharing with us is really inspiring. Thank you man 🤜🏼

I went to the town with a group of friends on a motorcycle ride in 2008. Hard to imagine a boom and bust town of this size that ended so quickly. A fascinating piece of history from the old west. Great video Steve. I always enjoy all the information that you research in making your videos.

I love your small history lessons and style of investigative journalism.

Very clear photography. Depth of field is amazing. Good work!

Interesting that such a large down disappeared so quickly. It's so odd to hear of famous historical figures being effected by economic downturns. I used to work in Downtown San Diego, often walking down to the Gaslamp Quarter and the remaining bit of China Town. I was surprised to learn that Wyatt Earp used to own land in the area that used to be called the Stingeree, but sold it at a loss due to a financial crash in the 1890s. So many great stories, Steve! Thanks for all your great research.

You did an extensive visit. Hit all the highlights. Good job. One of your best.

A busy, somewhat stressful day, and then I watched this. Thank you Steve. You are a gentleman.

Back in the mid-80s I lived in Nevada and visited the Ghosttowns every weekend. It was at that time when an individual named James Spencer purchased the entire town. Imagine my surprise when I stopped by the townsite one beautiful afternoon and there was Mr. Spencer, walking the grounds. A guy in his 40s, he was friendly and we had an extensive conversation. He was stunned when I told him my grandfather's name was James Spencer (no relation-that I know of). Anyways, he ended up selling the town just a few years later.

I spent a LOT of time in Rhyolite - as I volunteered often to restore some of the pieces at the Goldwell Open Air Museum (Nextdoor neighbor). This town's history has always been so interesting to me. Thanks for doing this video.

I have been to Rhyolite so many times and knew little of the history. Being from Las Vegas I would take all of my out of town friends to Death Valley and Rhyolite. None of them were ever disappointed. I used to go to Furness Creek in the middle of summer to enjoy the heat. I grew up in Havasu. If I have shade and water I'm okay. Thanks Steve.

Hi Steve, another great video as always, amazing that Rhyolite only lasted for such a short time considering the investment in infrastructure. All the very best from Australia.

I've been to Rhyolite numerous times and I took many friends there and always tried to make them understand the history of the place. Rhyolites' short span of booming days is a unique mirror of longer spans of larger civilisations... Built on dreams and expectations and destroyed by a lack of faith into the the very own aspirations. As of today there's still mining going on in the area - and on a much larger scale than ever before. But people chosed to leave back in the 1910th's because they were told that the mines had played out. They didn't even check whether this was true or not. They just gave up, moved away and left everything behind they'd been working for so hard. This is where we're at a whole, as the Western civilization, right now at this time. We're being told that we're wrong and we need to get rid of everything our ancestors and we've been working for - just because someone says so...

You put together some of the best videos!! One thing is wonderful bout your videos is when you are walking you hear your voice as to what you are talking bout not the sound of your feet crunching. Well done!!

I was in a grocery store in Escondido while paying at the human cashier check-out and noticed her child about your son's age wearing a SD hat, so I told her about you, and your YouTube channel..I hope that leads to another subscriber to Sidetrack Adventures, because you deserve it my man. Great video as always. 👍