Overbury Building & Bishop Jewelry Store — Attraction in Beatty

John Overbury, a native of Orange, New Jersey, came to Nevada in 1902 and made his fortune in the early days of the Tonopah mining boom. Like many of his peers, he came to Rhyolite hoping to be a part of the new, big boom. Local newspapers chronicled Overbury's arrival in "a swell Oldsmobile." The next spring, he ordered a second Oldsmobile, and, per the Rhyolite Herald, drove author Jack London down from Goldfield and out to Death Valley. Construction of the Overbury Building began in 1906; it was completed in June 1907. The structure is 45 feet wide by 80 feet long and cost somewhere between $45,000-$60,000 to build. The building was meant to be two stories tall; however, after John Cook began constructing a three-story building just up the street, Overbury quickly changed his mind, and his building became three stories tall. The Overbury Building was one of the first general purpose buildings in Rhyolite and the largest stone building. As one of the more prominent commercial hubs in town, it was fully equipped with fireproof shutters, an automatic fire suppression system, and private bathrooms. At its height, the building housed a stock brokerage firm, the First National Bank of Rhyolite, a dentist, and attorneys' offices. Like many of the other grand buildings in town, the Overbury Building was abandoned by 1910, and much of it was...

Ruins of an old building with signage about...

We visited this spot while in...