Bob Schoose

About Bob

• Born in River Grove, Illinois, and moved to California when he was four—hearing stories about gold miners during his childhood trips to Knott’s Berry Farm sparked his interest in history.
• Inspired by his passion for history and the lure of gold, he has traveled and lived throughout the deserts of the Southwest, including many ghost towns.
• Worked in construction for most of his career, but got frustrated by the unreliability of the work and wanted to find something more stable.
• After seeing several ghost towns start turning to tourism to survive, he saw an opportunity to combine his passions.
• Ended up buying a five-acre residential property which was a deeded mill site for the Goldfield Mine; began rebuilding the crumbling site so people could visit and learn about the history.
• On opening day in 1988, they only did $9 in business—he admits he thought he had made a huge mistake, but his vision for what the place could be kept him going.
• He faced a lot criticism early on from people around him that thought he was crazy—says, “You can measure a man’s strength based on his ability to adapt.”
• He now serves as the self-appointed “Mayor of Goldfield” and continues to work towards preserving the towns history for future generations to enjoy.