Beatty, a town with quite a history,  is the eastern gateway to Death Valley National Park. At the eastern entrance sits the ghost town of Rhyolite, a collection of ruins and a brilliant outdoor art gallery, the Goodwill Open Air Museum, created by Belgian artists. 

 Rhyolite was developed because Gold was found in the mountains. Rich business men from around the world invested in this town and it was billed as “the Chicago of the West.” The buildings were ornate stone and all had electricity and running water, something that was not in this area at the time. Beatty was developed on highway 95  as the delivery area for Rhyolite. 

Rhyolite only lasted 5 years and then the gold was gone and everyone left for the new gold fields. The residents of Beatty saw this as an opportunity and moved many of the buildings to their town. They tore the roof off the school and put it on their school. Howard Hughes was involved in Rhyolite and had also purchased a casino in Las Vegas. He did not like his casino’s  parking lot sign so he moved it to Beatty, and it  still stands in Beatty over the entry to an empty field.

Beatty has prospered because of highway 95, the highway from Reno to Vegas. Motorists speed down the highway for over 100 miles either way without stopping for the towns that have one or two residents remaining and 25 MPH signs that are not enforced. When motorists get outside Beatty and see the 25 MPH sign they do not slow down and Beatty does enforce the speed limit. Beatty has a local policemen, 3 county police and 2 state police that live in town. There is also a court and a judge and a jail.  Highway 95 is big business for Beatty!

The local sheriff  is Western all the way. He wears a cowboy hat and boots, a vest with a large star badge, and a holster around his waist with a large pistol. He patrols the two casinos in this high desert town of 2500 residents. He told us that last week two guys came to town and got rowdy at one casino and were asked to leave. They decided to vandalize the casino and he was called in. He chased the vandals into the dessert, town is only three blocks wide and 2 miles long, and watched them hide behind one of the few tumble weeds. He and a friend faked looked for them till morning, then the sheriff and buddies sat at the casino and had breakfast. Soon it was 99 out and the vandals begged to be caught! While the sheriff and buddies waited they ruined the tires on the vandals car. When the guys surrendered they were given the choice of court and jail or leaving town and not returning. They chose leaving but had to purchase lunch at the casino and then had to purchase new tires. The sheriff was happy they added to the town economy! Cowboy justice!

 The famed Rhyolite Bottle House made with over 50,000 wine and beer bottles that were not cleaned out prior to using in the walls and had bug living in them. This town was progressive for 1905!

 Goodwill Open Air Museum outside of Rhyolite. The statues look like cement but felt like plaster.

 The last supper statues and Duffey.

 The fancy Rhyolite train station and the remainder of the train. Just before the town closed the building was turned into a casino but it only lasted 6 months.