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Rhyolite in Nye County, Nevada — The American Mountains (Southwest)
 

Adobe Dance Hall

— Adobe Saloon —

 
 
Adobe Dance Hall Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Craig Baker, April 5, 2025
1. Adobe Dance Hall Marker
Inscription.
Construction on the Adobe Dance Hall was completed in May 1905. As its name implies, the hall was constructed of local stone that was stacked in place and then mortared together with adobe.

The Adobe Dance Hall was one of the first substantial buildings in Rhyolite and occupied two lots on the corner of Amargosa Street and Colorado Avenue in the Red-Light District. It was owned by Bob Bynum, a prospector who had purchased the lots for $1 a piece.

At the western end of the building, there was a dance hall and bar where miners and prospectors could pay for the privilege of dancing with the ladies of the establishment or watch boxing matches or other sporting events.

The eastern portion of the hall was a divided into four small rooms of roughly equal size. These "cribs" were used by the red-light women and their clients.

In the early days of Rhyolite, these working women used the Adobe Dance Hall as a gathering place to socialize, celebrate holidays, and build a sense of community.

The 1910 census reveals that one-third of Rhyolite's working women lived on Amargosa
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Street. Cora Ross, Blanche Bliss, Grace James, Helen Colby, and others, were all residents. While they listed their jobs as housekeepers and piano players, they probably worked in the cribs at the Adobe Dance Hall.
 
Erected 2022 by Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: ArchitectureEntertainmentIndustry & CommerceSettlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1905.
 
Location. 36° 54.003′ N, 116° 49.65′ W. Marker is in Rhyolite, Nevada, in Nye County. It is on MCR926493 Road 0.1 miles east of Rhyolite Road, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Beatty NV 89003, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Mojave Desert and in Central Nevada. It is also in the American Southwest and in the Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At
Adobe Dance Hall and Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Craig Baker, April 5, 2025
2. Adobe Dance Hall and Marker
least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Red-Light District (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Rhyolite Jail (about 300 feet away); Miner's Cabin (about 400 feet away); Porter Brothers' Store (about 500 feet away); Mona Bell's Grave (about 500 feet away); Overbury Building (about 600 feet away); Miners Union Hall (about 600 feet away); Rhyolite Schoolhouse (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Rhyolite.
 
Additional commentary.
1. Real Adobe
Adobe is sun-dried clay bricks, not local stone mortared together.
    — Submitted November 22, 2024, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.
 
Adobe Dance Hall image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Craig Baker
3. Adobe Dance Hall
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on July 13, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 21, 2024, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. This page has been viewed 529 times since then and 148 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on November 21, 2024, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.
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Jul. 7, 2026