The Washington Post: The Ghost Town as Gay Mecca (1986)

[TacoLand]

Okaaayyyyyy ..... thought I knew more than average when it comes to Death Valley and the surrounding areas, but a friend pointed me towards this Washington Post article from 1986 and it threw me for a loop.

Happy Friday, and ... enjoy?!  


The Ghost Town as Gay Mecca from The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/l...45208c5ea/

[MojaveGeek]

Wow. Just wow. Well I never heard about a gay group trying to buy Rhyolite but I'm not too surprised by the reaction from the townies at the time. As for doing your shopping in Beatty.. unless you want candies and nuts at Eddie World, good luck

[DAW89446]

I once stopped with the family about this time period in Rhyolite and had lunch at the depot. I kept getting in trouble with the proprietor for my son being curious with the slot machine and hanging around it. I don’t remember anything about the town unusual, but it might be before things got going as it was in July of 1986.

As much as things change, some things are still the same. Cerro Gordo is owned by a gay group of investors, including Brent Underwood who lives in town.

[Brice]

As much as things change, some things are still the same. Cerro Gordo is owned by a gay group of investors, including Brent Underwood who lives in town.

Really?  Huh.  I thought it was a one man operation.  I haven't watched many of his youtube videos but I never got the impression that he has official support of others.  Seems like the videos I have watched kinda suggest the opposite.

[DAW89446]

As much as things change, some things are still the same. Cerro Gordo is owned by a gay group of investors, including Brent Underwood who lives in town.

Really?  Huh.  I thought it was a one man operation.  I haven't watched many of his youtube videos but I never got the impression that he has official support of others.  Seems like the videos I have watched kinda suggest the opposite.

I forget the total, I think four.

Edit: Brent Underwood, Jon Bier, Kelley Mooney, Nathan Barry, Ryan Holiday, Brendan Gahan, Aaron Saltzman and possibly two others. After some research through their social media, I found that I was incorrect on my comment that the group is gay. I recall that immediately before, during and after the sale there was buzz about it, but I’ve not found anything published to verify it. Some antics by certain members of the group didn’t help matters. But since things have quieted down. Other than Underwood, all have gone dark about any involvement in Cerro Gordo.

[Daymoth]

That Washington post link is such a good read !!!


Edit to add, from the OAC:

Background

Frederick Schoonmaker spent the last three years of his life trying to establish a gay intentional community, to be called Stonewall Park, in rural Nevada. Schoonmaker and his partner, Alfred Parkinson, dreamed of creating a “safe and peaceful place” where they could live without interference as a gay interracial couple (Schoonmaker was white, Parkinson Black). They first tried to build on a ranch in the existing town of Silver Springs, then in the ghost town of Rhyolite, which Schoonmaker attempted to purchase for this purpose; both times, they were thwarted by local homophobia. The final attempt was the successful purchase of land near Thunder Mountain in rural Pershing County, but this work, too, was halted after opposition and threats. The venture left Schoonmaker and Parkinson destitute. In 1987, Schoonmaker was diagnosed with AIDS, and he died the same year.




They should make a Netflix miniseries.

[DAW89446]

The final attempt was the successful purchase of land near Thunder Mountain in rural Pershing County, but this work, too, was halted after opposition and threats.

I wonder if it was at this location?

https://goo.gl/maps/ym8VQMCWpJxwB7SX7

It’s an old government complex atop a peak in the East Range, east of what is known as Thunder Mountain Monument (https://goo.gl/maps/moJtDvS66D3B3zFv9). No actual mountain of that name in the region - TM was created over 50 years ago by a local artist and is in a state of arrested decay next to I-80 in the tiny community of Imlay, SW of Winnemucca.

I’ve not seen published confirmation (nor have I looked), but I’ve heard talk about the mountaintop site being purchased by members of the gay community and was a failed attempt to turn it into an isolated resort.