The Beatty Museum, recently expanded, is a rich repository of local history, historic photographs, mining equipment, and other items that tell the region’s story.
From its earliest days, the reason behind the founding of the Southern Nevada community of Beatty was water.
Located directly east of dry and desolate Death Valley, it is no surprise that the presence of the precious stuff would make it a desirable place to put down roots.
While the history is murky, most records indicate Beatty originally was settled in about 1870 by a man named Landers. All that is known about Landers is that he built a small stone cabin adjacent to a bubbling spring in the area, which eventually was named Oasis Valley.
In 1896, Montillus Murray Beatty acquired the Landers ranch and moved into the stone cabin. He planted trees around the structure and cultivated a variety of crops.
When gold was discovered over the hill in the Bullfrog mining district (so named because of the unusual green color of the ore), Beatty's ranch was the closest source of plentiful water and fresh produce. In addition to having a natural spring, his land was atop the Amargosa River, which runs underground through the area.
The town of Beatty was established in 1904, south of the ranch. It quickly became an important supply point for surrounding mining towns like Bullfrog and Rhyolite, and later thrived because it was located between the booming mining town of Goldfield and the railroad yards of Las Vegas.
Beatty sold his ranch and springs in 1906 and moved into the growing town of Beatty, which, by that time, boasted 1,000 residents and a major hotel, the 23-room Montgomery Hotel. He died two years later at the age of 73 after suffering an injury while hauling wood.
In 1906, a rail line was completed that linked Beatty to Las Vegas, and the following year a line was built connecting the town to Goldfield.
The Bullfrog mining boom, however, ended almost as quickly as it began, with most mines shutting down by 1909. Beatty, while experiencing a decline, was able to survive because of the same things that first attracted people there — availability of water and location on the road linking central Nevada to Southern Nevada.
Today, visitors find a pleasant small community with several hotel/motel casinos, including the Exchange Club Motel and Casino, the Death Valley Inn and the Stagecoach Hotel and Casino.
In recent years, Beatty has become popular with the RV crowd, attracted by the comfortably warm, winter weather and proximity to Death Valley National Park. The town boasts a half-dozen RV parks.
In addition to serving as the gateway to Death Valley, which is directly west on Nevada State Route 374, Beatty is only four miles from the ghost town of Rhyolite.
Established in 1905, Rhyolite was once one of Southern Nevada’s premier mining towns. The ruins of a number of substantial structures, including the Rhyolite Depot and the Rhyolite Bottle House (a former residence constructed using about 15,000 bottles) remain standing.
Beatty is also only about 10 miles from the Amargosa Sand Dunes, including Big Dune, a 2,731-foot high mound of sand that is popular with all-terrain vehicle drivers.
Beatty’s rich history is presented in nice displays and historic photos at the excellent Beatty Museum and Historical Society at 417 Main St. (775-553-2303), which is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information, check out its website at www.beattymuseum.org.
Additionally, a good source of information about the history of Beatty is “A History of Beatty” by Robert D. McCracken, published by Nye County Press. A condensed version of McCracken’s book, titled “Beatty: Frontier Oasis,” is also available.
Rich Moreno writes about the places and people that make Nevada special.
