amargosa opera house and hotel in death valley

Those ten years were clearly tough-here lie the 14 victims of the Tonopah-Belmont Mine fire of February 23, 1911, and the victims of the 1902 “Tonopah Plague,” among others.

Shiny pennies are wedged in the silvery timber, a gesture from visitors wishing safe passage to the other side-i.e., “Please don’t haunt us.” According to the historical society’s entrance sign, this is the first Tonopah Cemetery, used from 1901-1911. Perfectly weathered wood tombstones dot the packed dirt.

The historic cemetery of Tonopah, Nevada, is a homespun monument to the pioneers of this hardscrabble mining town. From creepy to beautiful, mysterious to moving, ridiculous to sublime, here are five of the strangest places I have come across in my desert rambles. It’s also vast-large enough for visionaries, seekers of solitude, fringe miners, offbeat artists, or rescuers of haunted hotels to claim a piece of it and build the unconventional life of a desert-dweller, ignoring city and society.Īmidst the barbed desert expanses, lonesome stretches of highway, twisting dirt roads, and eternal quiet, life (and possibly even death) seems to take on a different shape.

Salt flats, stark mountains, ancient lakes, and rugged rock formations make it a landscape that is often described as haunting and otherworldly. With a name like Death Valley, you might think that strange places abound, and you would be right.

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Amargosa opera house and hotel in death valley