Beatty, NV - October 20, 2021

 Beatty did not start as a mining town, and would not be classified as a ghost town.  The first non-native resident was a rancher named Beatty who settled here because of access to water.  The Amargosa River is nearly 200 miles long, but runs underground most of the way, rising above ground in Beatty and one other place.  The oasis created there is a large part of Beatty's reason for being.  In fact, the Amargosa Valley is also known as Oasis Valley.

Shortly after Beatty's ranch came into being in 1905, gold was discovered in the Bullfrog Mountains a few miles west of town, bringing more people to the area.  Beatty became a support center for the five or six mines located in the surrounding mountains.  Later, the railroad arrived in Beatty, making it the hub of transportation for the area.

The nearby mines have all played out and are legitimate ghost towns.  Beatty clung to life for several reasons.  Death Valley was designated a national monument, then a national park, which begins only seven miles from Beatty.  The town bills itself as a "gateway" to Death Valley, and I myself have stayed there making day trips into the park when campsites weren't available within the park.  Then, in 1940, Nellis Air Force Base opened nearby, bringing federal dollars to town.  In 1950, the Nevada Test Site (nuclear testing), only 18 miles to the east, added to Beatty's economy.  A mural in town summarizes the history of Beatty.

You may notice burros shown in the mural.  Beatty is another town where descendants of prospecting burros have made a home, primarily because the town feeds them to keep them around.  I don't know how many burros they have, but I saw as many as 18 at one time.

I enjoyed the rugged mountains  that surround Beatty, and the oases formed by the river rising up.  It should provide ample birding opportunity, but I must have been there at the wrong time.

Costa's Hummingbird

Common Yellowthroat (Female)

Since brothels are legal in NV, I was not surprised to find one near Beatty, but this one has been closed since 2014.  They once set up a promotional stunt with a plane, which crashed.  The remains of the plane have been kept by the gate ever since.

Of the nearby ghost towns, Rhyolite is the most prominent and best preserved.  It has easy access, whereas the others require driving 4WD roads.  The railroad station is the most complete building and is privately owned.

Other buildings are on public land and are in varying stages of decay.  You can see, however, that the town once prospered, even having electrical service.

 

A miner by the name of Tom Kelly built a house using some 50,000 empty beer and liquor bottles.  It's not clear whether Tom personally emptied all the bottles.  The home was restored in 1925 for use in a movie production.

Someone took advantage of Rhyolite's popularity and built an outdoor art museum featuring sculptures made by dipping canvas sheets in plaster, then draping them over models.  Once they set up, they were used to create a scene of the last supper.

Other pieces on display seem to have no particular theme.