Rhyolite's birth was brought about by Shorty Harris and E. L. Cross, who were prospecting in the area in 1904.

They found quartz all over a hill, and as Shorty described it:

The quartz was just full of free gold... it was the original bullfrog rock... this banner is a crackerjack. The district is going to be the banner camp of Nevada. I say so once and I'll say it again.

At that time there was only one other person in the whole area: Old Man Beatty who lived in a ranch with his family five miles away. Soon the rush was on and several camps were set up including Bullfrog, the Amargosa and a settlement between them called Jumpertown.

A townsite was laid out nearby and given the name Rhyolite from the silica-rich volcanic rock in the area.

Source: National Park Service