Nevada Road Trip: Beatty to Tonopah (Day 3)

I hit the road with a handful of trail mix as I was sure I would be in Tonopah by lunch time. It’s under a hundred miles between the two towns, but I had a few stops planned along the way in the little town of Goldfield.

Goldfield is the county seat of Esmeralda County in spite of the fact that the town qualifies in some respects as a ghost town. In its heyday, it had around 20,000 residents, it now has about 400, with another 300 or so in the rest of the county. Unlike most ghost towns, though, the buildings are not abandoned. just largely unoccupied. In fact, here’s a piece of history, the Goldfield Hotel, that you could own:

The county courthouse (which also houses the county clerk, assessor, sheriff, jail, etc.):

Some other buildings:

Before the famous “art car” parades that occur at Burning Man each year began, “Rocket Bob” was creating art cars and they can be found on display right on the main street (https://travelnevada.com/arts-culture/rocket-bobs-art-cars/):

I couldn’t resist copying out part of the information on the sign in front of these beauties:

The Goldfield Art Car Park was the idea of Goldfield Resident and Art Car Owner Slim Sirnes, after the City of Reno impounded the moving art of Art Car Artist Robert “Rockette Bob” Van Keuren III in 2001. As the story goes, Rockette Bob had a number of licensed, registered, operating vehicles that he had to move every few days due to a Reno ordnance about vehicles sitting around on the street. Rockette Bob had a heart attack and was hospitalized for several weeks. The City of Reno pounced on the chance to remove his vehicles and quickly impounded them and towed them to the City Lot. When Rockette Bob was finally discharged from the hospital, he was unable to pay the impound fees. He figured that he would see what he could do when they came up at the next vehicle auction. In the meantime, Slim and Bob went to an Art Car Event in Houston, Texas. On the way back, Slim’s Art Truck developed mechanical problems and they were stranded, unable to make it back in time for the auction. Enter Slim’s daughter Nadiah in Reno. She went to the auction and although a couple of the vehicles had been sold before she got there, she was able to explain to the other bidders what had happened, and no one would bid against her for the remaining vehicles which she bought. Slim and Bob got back from Texas and brought them to Goldfield, NV where they have been displayed in several Goldfield locations creating interest in all who pass by.

These are not the most famous cars to be found in Goldfield, however. That distinction must go to the vehicles to be found in the “International Car Forest of the Last Church”.

Part of the Goldfield scene for years, the International Car Forest was created by longtime resident Mark Rippie, whose vision was to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest car forest. Joined by artists Chad Sort and Zak Sargent, the three set to work, burying the noses of more than 40 cars, vans, trucks, and buses. Outdoor car exhibits are found in other states (like Texas’ Cadillac Ranch or Nebraska’s Carhenge, for example), but Goldfield’s International Car Forest of the Last Church is, in fact, the largest in the country. (https://travelnevada.com/arts-culture/international-car-forest-of-the-last-church/)

The “International Car Forest” part of the name was a spoof on “National Forest”. “The Last Church” portion was as a representation of the Last Church being inside each of us.

I did make it to Tonopah by lunch and in the afternoon checked into the historic Mizvah Hotel.

It’s reputed to be haunted, but I wasn’t visited by any spirits. The lobby was delightful, though.

My only other activity for the day was to visit the historic Tonopah Mining Park: nice exhibits and views of some of the biggest mines around town (all of which shut down long ago).