Rhyolite Jail

Rhyolite Jail. . , Rhyolite was not a notoriously bad town, but some residents were not strictly law-abiding citizens. There were gunfights on Golden Street, brawls, and normal everyday disputes. , The first gunfight in the growing town took place on December 15, 1904. There were bad feelings between two men, and that evening, right about dinner time, the two shot it out in the Monaco Saloon. Both fired at very close range, with gun barrels almost touching. After being examined by the local doctor, it was noted that "they were both good boys." Both good boys had good aim, evidently; alas, they were both good and dead. , During Rhyolite's boom, its residents decided they needed at jail as much as, if not more so, than an enlarged schoolhouse. The closest jail was in Bullfrog, and transporting prisoners by wagon cost the county $15 per trip. , In January 1907, the Nye County Commissioners approved the building of a jail, appropriating $5,000 for its construction. , The Rhyolite Jail was a reinforced concrete building containing a jailer's quarters, a courtroom, and four 6.5 square-foot steel cells. However, after 49 striking Austrians were arrested for rioting in the nearby settlement of Bonnie Claire, this set-up proved insufficient.