10. Rhyolite, Nevada
Rhyolite is an old mining town in Nye County that was a hotspot for miners and their families in the 18th century. This town was once home to thousands of people, even if it only lasted for 20 years because in the 1920s, the population was close to zero. Rhyolite went down almost as fast as it rose.
Rhyolite had become so prosperous that it soon caught the attention of steal magnate and businessmen Charles M. Schwab. He invested a lot of money into Rhyolite in the hopes of finding gold. He even built a school, a hospital, stores, hotels, a stock exchange and a symphony.
Rhyolite soon became the most popular and modern boomtown in the region, with the implementation of electricity, telephones and indoor plumbing. However, by the end of 1910, the mine wasn’t making a profit anymore, so it closed in 1911. In the meantime, many miners who were left unemployed had to move elsewhere, and that’s how Rhyolite’s population rapidly dropped below 1,000. In five years, the population was close to zero.
