I feel like I was too terse about Rhyolite in the last travel post. It's really a neat place, the kind of place that makes you wonder why you haven't bought a metal detector yet. (If you have bought one, then yip-yip for you. Be smug in having your priorities straight. It's been on my to-do list since about 1977, but things keep getting in the way. Barrettes, vinyl LPs, butterscotch schnapps... and that was just through 1980. I keed. Hush.)
So it was back out to Beatty, up past more Nye county brothels, then into Esmeralda county for a spell and straight into the county: Goldfield. I'll try to do better by this town, for although Wikipedia calls it "largely a ghost town," it seemed completely spry (if ickle) to us. Besides, it does boast almost half of the county's population! (Population of Esmeralda County: 1,262)
This is the motel I'm going to buy when I'm unspeakably rich:
Mike took this photo of the courthouse.
And I, I'm the one who photoshopped out about half of the cables before saying, "Meh." Sorry!
Again, we were looking at everything from the car. The temp was a little better, being further north, but we were also pretty beat as it was now past both our bedtimes. Still, we drove slowly and took a few detours to get a long look around. Surely this place does alright with the (less wussy) tourist trade. I hope so.
The jail behind the courthouse was wow-material, but we were distracted by the old high school building - so neat! There is a kiosk next to it with a place to make donations and some information on restoration progress.
The fire station is across from the courthouse:
Beautiful! Every corner was a curiosity, but we kept inching along the main street that Highway 95 had become.
The Goldfield Hotel is known for its former opulence. Wikipedia talks about how champagne flowed down its front steps the day it opened. In 1908, Teddy Roosevelt spoke to a crowd in the street from one of the balconies.
This arch is all that remains of the Sideboard Saloon; it was one of the many casualties of the fire that wiped out most of Goldfield in the early 20s.
To think this was once a town of 30,000 souls.
The souvenir stand at the end of town is a hoot. You can see what they think of claim jumpers:
In the window is a man reading a book. You may have to squint.
The library was the former... um, I need to look that one up again. Former something. Former something that is still standing! Yay! Go something-cum-Library! (Here I make distracting wavy motions with my hands.)
Ghost town? That's crazy talk. Nifty town? There ya go.
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