Embark on a captivating journey through the desolate yet historically rich landscapes of Nevada, where numerous Death Valley ghost towns and Nevada ghost towns stand as silent testaments to an era of unbridled ambition and harsh realities. These remnants of mining booms and railroad expansion offer a unique glimpse into the lives of pioneers who chased dreams of fortune in the unforgiving desert.
Amargosa: A Railroad Hub’s Rise and Fall
Originally known as Johnnie Station, Amargosa emerged as a pivotal stop on the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad. Established initially as a temporary track-laying site, its permanence was secured by significant strikes in nearby Johnnie. The settlement was renamed Amargosa in December 1901, a Spanish term meaning “bitter water,” due to the brackish nature of a newly dug well. While its first post office was short-lived, closing within a year, another opened three miles west of Rhyolite by 1904, serving the burgeoning Amargosa community. At its peak, the town boasted a store, hotel, restaurant, and blacksmith shop, acting as a crucial shipping point for Johnnie and a freight stop for supplies heading to Greenwater, California.
Amargosa’s prosperity was tied to the railroads. When the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad completed its westward extension in 1907, Amargosa’s shipping activities sharply declined, shrinking the town to merely a railroad agent and a single merchant. A brief resurgence occurred around 1914 when the Johnnie mines resumed production, supporting about 25 residents. However, by 1917, Amargosa was entirely abandoned. Today, the main remnant is a large concrete foundation of the old station, a challenging find located approximately 16.5 miles east of Amargosa Valley on the north side of U.S. 95. It’s worth noting that Original, Nevada, and Death Valley Junction, California, were also known as Amargosa for a time, as was Bullfrog, Nevada, briefly called Amargosa City.
Lesser-Known Settlements: Ashton, Bowlerville, and Browne’s Camp
About 15 miles southwest of Beatty, Ashton was a minor water stop on the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad. It never evolved into a substantial settlement and was abandoned after the railroad ceased operations, leaving no discernible remains today.
Bowlerville, a mining camp from the early 20th century, was situated a few miles south of the Johnnie Mine. It was named in honor of Fred Bowler, the mine’s owner, but its history remains obscure.
In Nye County, Browne’s Camp had an equally fleeting existence around 1907. Despite the discovery of some shallow ore deposits, they proved insufficient for sustained operations, leading to its abandonment. By the 1920s, it had vanished from maps, leaving no physical traces behind.
Beatty: The Enduring Gateway to Death Valley’s Past
Unlike many of its neighbors, Beatty is not a ghost town but a living community that played a vital role in the Death Valley mining era. Established in 1905 with the arrival of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad, it was named after Montillus Murray “Old Man” Beatty, a rancher and the town’s first postmaster. Early significant infrastructure included the Montgomery Hotel, built by Ernest Alexander “Bob” Montgomery of the Montgomery-Shoshone Mine near Rhyolite.
Beatty quickly became a central transportation hub. By mid-1905, some 1,500 horses facilitated freight hauling between the Bullfrog District camps (including Rhyolite, Bullfrog, Gold Center, Transvaal, and Springdale) and the nearest railhead in Las Vegas. The town gained its own newspaper, the Beatty Bullfrog Miner, that same year. The arrival of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad in October 1906, followed by the Bullfrog & Goldfield Railroad in April 1907, and the Tonopah & Tidewater in October 1907, solidified Beatty’s status as a critical rail junction. However, the Panic of 1907 led to the decline of the mining towns Beatty supported, causing its own downturn. Its newspaper closed in 1909, and the Rhyolite Herald, which then served Beatty, ceased publication in 1912.
Though the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad left in 1918 and the Bullfrog & Goldfield Railroad in 1928, Beatty continued to thrive as a railhead due to the Tonopah and Tidewater. Even after its departure in 1940, the town endured, bolstered by federal installations like Nellis Air Force Base and growing tourism from Death Valley National Park and Las Vegas. A brief population surge occurred in 1988 with a new mine opening, but like others, it closed in 1998, returning the population to its previous level. Today, Beatty remains a small, active town, home to the Beatty Museum and Historical Society, catering to travelers exploring the region’s rich history.
Bonnie Claire: A Mill Town with Many Names
Known by a variety of names including Clare, Clair, Thorp’s Wells, Thorp, Montana Station, Summerville, and Gold Mountain, Bonnie Claire saw mining activity begin in the 1880s. A small stamp mill at Thorp’s Wells served mines near Gold Mountain. The Bonnie Claire Bullfrog Mining Company purchased the mill in the early 1900s, leading to a small camp and stage line development. A larger mill, the Bonnie Claire, was built in 1904, processing ore from the district. A post office named Thorp was established in June 1905.
The town grew steadily, reaching its peak with approximately 100 residents around September 1906, when the Bullfrog-Goldfield Railroad arrived at the new Montana Station. The townsite was platted as Bonnie Claire a month later, though the post office officially changed its name from Thorp to Bonnie Claire only in 1909. The Panic of 1907, however, curtailed investment, suspending mining operations and dampening the town’s prospects. Bonnie Claire persisted primarily because of the railroad’s presence.
A unique boost came in 1925 during the construction of Scotty’s Castle, a fanciful mansion 20 miles southwest. For three years, nearly all construction materials arrived at Bonnie Claire station via the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad, then transported by mule-drawn wagons and trucks. When the railroad ceased operations in 1928, Bonnie Claire quickly died, its post office closing and tracks removed by 1931. The area saw a revival between 1935 and 1953 with the Lippincott Smelter, which processed lead ore. Today, significant ruins remain, including the Lippincott Smelter, Montana Station Mill, and several buildings, located about 20 miles northeast of Scotty’s Castle on CA-72/NV267.
Bullfrog: Gold Rush, Competition, and Decay
Also known as Bonanza and Amargosa City, Bullfrog owes its existence to famous prospector Shorty Harris’s 1904 gold discovery and the subsequent opening of the Original Bullfrog Mine. The entire tent town of Original swiftly relocated to the Bullfrog townsite in March 1905, rapidly swelling to about 1,000 residents. Bullfrog quickly became a boomtown, boasting two- and three-story hotels, a jail, post office, general store, bank, icehouse, and various other businesses. However, its growth was challenged by fierce competition from the nearby, simultaneously developing town of Rhyolite, and exacerbated by several fatal gunfights.
As Rhyolite flourished, Bullfrog declined, becoming almost empty by 1907, with many of its buildings moved to its rival. The post office closed in May 1909. Both towns were ultimately doomed by the financial Panic of 1907. Bullfrog’s last large structure, a hotel, burned down in June 1906. Today, all that remains are the vestiges of an ice house and a jail. The Bullfrog-Rhyolite cemetery is nearby, just south of the townsite, which is located at the north end of the Amargosa Desert, approximately four miles west of Beatty. Less than a mile north lie the Bullfrog Hills and the more substantial ghost town of Rhyolite.
Carrara: The Dream of Marble
Carrara was founded on the promise of marble quarrying. Although settlement began as early as 1904, the town was not officially dedicated until 1913. Its post office, however, closed just eleven years later, in 1924. A cement company built several large buildings about a mile north of the townsite in 1936, but operations never commenced. The ruins of these impressive stone structures from the old cement company are still visible today. At the townsite itself, only a few foundations remain. The sparse traces of the Gold Ace Mine and the marble quarries can be found higher up the hill. Carrara is located 8.75 miles south of Beatty, Nevada, on U.S. 95.
Charlestown: A Railroad Camp’s Ephemeral Existence
Located in Nye County, Nevada, Charlestown was an obscure railroad and mining camp that sprang to life in 1906 as the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad pushed westward towards Rhyolite. Its fate was tied directly to the railroad; when the tracks were dismantled in 1918, the camp was abandoned. Today, only some scattered wood rubble from the water tank tower marks its former location.
Chloride City: A Brief Revival
Established in 1905, Chloride City emerged when the Bullfrog strike drew prospectors to re-work old mining claims dating back to 1873. Its initial boom was exceptionally short-lived, becoming a ghost town within a year. However, it experienced a revival in 1916, and the remains visible today primarily date from that period. Visitors can explore a few mine openings, mill ruins, ore dumps, the remnants of three stamp mills, and the solitary grave of a man named James McKay, whose history remains unknown. Chloride City is located on the east-central side of Death Valley, 14 miles southwest of Beatty, Nevada.
Currie Well: Desert Oasis and Fading Hopes
Currie Well earned its significance as a crucial watering hole for stages and trains traversing the harsh desert between Rhyolite and Goldfield. Situated approximately eleven miles north of Rhyolite, its water source initially sustained thirsty horses, mules, teamsters, and passengers. Over time, several miners and entrepreneurs attempted to profit from the well, selling water, providing meals, and foraging for animals. These intermittent efforts, spanning from 1907 to 1909, appear to have been largely unsuccessful. Later attempts in improving the well and even establishing a farm garden and alfalfa field in 1911 also proved short-lived and fruitless.
The two most active periods at Currie Well coincided with railroad development: in 1907, the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad construction crew utilized it as a work camp due to its water, and in 1909, the owner unsuccessfully tried to increase water flow to pipe it to nearby mines. Several brief mining operations in the area also quickly faltered. Today, the site is strewn with debris, yet it retains some low stone walls and the ruins of a small beehive furnace. It is found about 11 miles north of Rhyolite, alongside the grade of the abandoned Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad.
Gold Bar: A Tale of Two Mines
Gold Bar, a small mining camp within the Bullfrog Mining District, began in 1905 at the base of two adjacent operations: the Gold Bar Mine and the Homestake-King Mine and Mill. For several years, these mines prospered, largely due to their proximity to the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad, which significantly reduced ore transportation costs. The townsite supported around 50 people and featured several substantial buildings. Unfortunately, the Gold Bar Mine was ultimately revealed to be a hoax, enriching its promoters more than its investors.
In contrast, the Homestake-King Mine was recognized as one of the most honestly and prudently managed companies of its era. However, the economic fallout from the Panic of 1907 eventually caught up with Gold Bar and nearby Rhyolite, leading to a slowdown and cessation of operations. The Gold Bar Mine closed in 1908, followed by the Homestake-King the subsequent year. Most of the town’s buildings were subsequently moved to Rhyolite. In the 1930s, the Homestake-King was purchased and saw a brief revival in 1937, employing 14 men, but this resurgence was short-lived. Today, little remains of the mining camp, and the area is now part of the Death Valley National Park.
Conclusion: Enduring Echoes of the Past
The Death Valley ghost towns and Nevada ghost towns scattered across this stark yet beautiful landscape serve as powerful reminders of the transient nature of boom-and-bust cycles that defined the American West. From bustling railroad hubs like Amargosa and the enduring community of Beatty, to the ambitious marble quarries of Carrara and the gold rush dreams of Bullfrog, each site tells a unique story of hope, hardship, and ultimately, abandonment. While many have faded into dust, their foundations and scattered ruins offer invaluable insights into the spirit of those who sought their fortunes in the desert. Exploring these historic sites provides a profound connection to a pivotal era in regional development, urging us to remember the tenacious individuals who once called these remote outposts home.
