My name is Rebecca and I will tell the story of Rhyolite. After all I was here from the beginning. I came to Rhyolite in 1905 with my husband, following the Gold Strikes throughout the west. (Well, it was a living you know! And times were hard then, you had to go where you could make a living. Oh my, listen to me, let's get back to the Statues.) Albert Szukalski was a Belgian Artist who was pretty famous in Europe and visited the United States often. He was fascinated with Rhyolite and the wonderful ruins that are here.

These wonderful creations were made by the Railroad Depot at the top of the hill. Using live models from the town of Beatty right next door, he made life size shrouds as he told a story. He said that the idea had been in the making for a couple of years, and it took him several months to complete this project.

The Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad Station was privately owned at that time, so Albert was able to live in the Ghost Town as he created his shrouds. After Albert created the ghosts by the Railroad Depot, he moved them to the property where they sit today. Six other pieces have been added since that time by other Belgian artists who were very well known in Europe.

Well, let's hurry on now and see more of Rhyolite, lots of things to choose from. Just pick a button, any button will do. But remember, ghosts play funny tricks so remember the back button if you get stuck.

THUMB NAILS OF OTHER STATUES AT GOLDWELL
(If you don't want to look at all the photos, just scroll to the bottom of the page.)