Silver City

     I wanted to continue today on my ghost town theme.  Last week, I had a couple of days off and I got to check out a bunch of ghost towns located less than an hour away from where I live.  I came across some really cool, especially Silver City.  Here are a couple of pictures of it from around 1896:

photo courtesy of utahghosttowns.com 

Photo courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collection, Brigham Young University 

Photo courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collection, Brigham Young University 

     Silver City was settled around 1870.  Although old Native American mines were found around the settlement, growth was slow due to tales of larger mines around Alta and Park City.  Wikipedia states that since the city lacked "the pacer deposits of many Utah mines, extracting Silver City's riches required labor-intensive hard rock mining.  Early on, mine owners lacked capital and could develop the mines only slowly.  Gradually the town grew from a mere tent city with a saloon and a blacksmith shop, to include a claims recorder and assay office, a telegraph branch, stagecoach line, and post office, and eventually numerous stores, hotels, and restaurants.  There were even two railroad depots, as both the Salt Lake and Western Railroad and the Tintic Range Railroad ran lines into town.  Economic conditions improved, and by 1899 Silver City's population reached 800.
     "In the 1890s, just as the mine companies seemed to be locating the richest ore bodies, a new difficult arose: the mine shafts started filling with water.  As the more marginal mines flooded and closed, while the richest ones continued operating with the help of expensive pumps, Silver City began to dwindle.  Miners left in even greater numbers after a 1902 fire devastated the town.... 
     "In 1908 Jesse Knight, already a successful mine owner in the Tintic area, revitalized Silver City by establishing the Utah Ore Sampling Company and the Tintic smelter here.  He nearly transformed Silver City into a company town, but for the fact that he didn't own the land.  Knight built a power plant, some 100 new homes, and yet another railroad, called the Eureka Hill Railroad.  By 1908 Silver City's population surged to its peak of 1500, most of them Knight employees....
     "Silver City's resurgence was short-lived.  Due to dropping freight rates, Knight's smelter proved unable to compete with those in the Salt Lake Valley.  Records show that by 1912 the population was already down to 300, and there were only 8 businesses left.  In 1915 the smelter was shut down and moved to Murray.  Silver City's decline is often considered to have been complete by 1930, but it was still a separate precinct in the 1940 census, which recorded a population of 111."  It is currently uninhabited.
     I found a great site, utahghosttowns.com, which reported that there was recently a grass fire in Silver City.  It was reported that "the fire destroyed all remaining wooden structures but it also took away most of the weeds and sagebrush.  Foundations, footings, and rubble that had been obscured by undergrowth for years was again made visible.  The fire provided a bonanza for treasure hunters with metal detectors."  Here is the town as it is currently found:

photo courtesy of utahghosttowns.com 

     If you google Silver City, you will come up with an actual location about 2 miles south of Eureka, Utah.  There are no paved roads, just dirt ones leading to what was the town.  The top photo from utahghosttowns.com was taken in 2004 and the trailer that is in the distance has since been destroyed, although the rubble is still there.  The only distinguishing landmark is the blue shed that is found in the second and third photos.  There are foundations all over the place, although few of them are as good as the foundations in the third and fourth photos.  The final photo is a rephotograph of the third picture from 1986 (a lot has changed).  Also in my final photo you can see part of the current mining operation which is happening on the hill that is furthest to the right.  That is where I found this cool old mining machine:

     It is technically private property, but the people that I found there were very kind and directed me to where the town is located.  Apparently there is also an old cemetery located about 2 miles south of Silver City.  I didn't learn about this until today so I don't know exactly where it is located.

     It is a really cool place for people who like to hunt around ghost towns, but do so at your own risk.  Also, if you would like to see some more cool photos of Silver City or read more about ghost towns in Utah, click here.