SILVER CITY

 

 Twenty-six rocky uphill dirt-road miles from the already-remote Oregon town of Jordan Valley Oregon lies the sort-of ghost town of Silver City Idaho.  "Sort-of" because while the town looks like it did in the late 1800s, the structures are all privately owned and some of them are occupied, mostly as summer homes.

 

Remains of Wells Fargo Express office

 

 The whole town is on the National Register of Historic Places -- and the outsides of the buildings can't be modernized or altered.   There's no electricity, but other modern conveniences can be added to the insides of the structures.

Silver City was founded in 1864 after silver was discovered on nearby War Eagle mountain.  Soon it was a bustling little community of 2500 people with 75 businesses and was even the county seat  for a few years.

 

Idaho Standard School

 Although mining never did come to a complete halt, the original War Eagle mine became depleted and financing for other mines failed.    As agriculture in the lower valleys grew in importance with the advent of irrigation, population in this extremely remote mountain town declined steadily and by the 1930s it was a nearly unoccupied ghost town.    

 

Former Silver City Saloon

 

 A kind of revival began after World War II when transportation became more available and visitors to the area increased.  Property owners and Owyhee County have worked hard for many years to preserve intact this remnant of Western history.  

 Today there are just a few businesses on the old Main Street... a small inn/ restaurant  (where they cook using propane gas),  a souvenir shop, and a campground.  But no grocery store or gas station.  

 

 

Deadman Alley and Sommercamp Saloon

 

 Every old-west town has to have a street that was the scene of  gunfights and stabbings and  Silver City is no exception.

  

 

 

Getting off the beaten track on roadtrips is a fun part of OUR WORLD, so this post is linked there.  Thank you to the hosts.

Comments

[Penny]

Thank goodness there are those who preserve these towns with history - and people like you, Sallie, who document them so well in photograph.

[NatureFootstep Photo]

it is intersting with those old cities. We have nothing like that at all. :)

[diane]

A sort-of-ghost town. It is interesting that people can buy there if it is historically listed but it is a good way to keep the town alive.

[Daniela Augustka]

Interesting city, for me something completely different and unknown. Thank you for your visiting on my blog.

[Ramblingwoods]

Interesting post Sallie

[Kenneth C Schneider]

Very interesting place to visit. Love those old ruins-- so photogenic!

[Lowell]

What's hard to believe is that people actually live there still without many of the modern conveniences. A great set of photos, though. Won't find this kind of thing in Florida, I don't think. Thanks for sharing!

[Lady Fi]

What a pretty town! So amazing.

[Carver]

What a cool place.

[artmusedog and carol]

Wow! Amazing ~ i do remember visiting one of those and it was surreal ~ great photos ~ happy week to you ~ xxxoo

[Sondra]

Love this...its so cool that they keep it the way it was.

[Jenn Jilks]

An amazing tour. That is much fun! I learned a lot!

[Barb]

I like these reminders of the past. Is it me, or is the Saloon leaning to one side? (I have just had a glass of wine...)

[dianne7777]

it's like visiting a movie set!!

[Phil (@anotherbirdblog)]

Isn't the Internet and blogging in particular a source of wonder and education? Great story and pictures Sallie.

[Mama Zen]

Fabulous pictures!

[Poppy]

Hi Sallie,

Well, if you want to talk ghost towns, then you'd better cross the pond and visit Crete, which is full of tiny, abandoned villages, some even on the water! Enjoyed this most interesting tour of Silver City and its history. Intriguing photos!

Poppy

[EG CameraGirl]

I bet this was a fun FUN place to explore!

[EG CameraGirl]

What a fun place to explore!

[Hazel]

How sad-great photos and detail in the facts!

[Red Nomad OZ]

Ghost towns are great!! But a pity there wasn't a nice hunk of silver laying around for you to pick up!!

[Emille (Jesh. stG)]

We both must have "mining" on our mind:) great pics Sally! actually I like silver more than gold! Internet is slower than molasses. Went back too Utah to paint, cause there were two fire near Yosemite.

[Pat]

You know I love this post, right?
Even though much of it looks very nicely kept up, I seem ruins in there also. I have a friend who lives in Idaho and we will probably make it up there in the not too distant future.
Great photos and thanks!

[Gaelyn]

Imagine that, a lived in ghost town.

[Kusum]

Nice post! I have never been beyond Portland. Some day would love to visit Washington.

[Yogi]

Old ghost towns are fun. My Dad lives in southeast Idaho and we have visited old ghost towns there, some of which were lived in by my relatives way back when.

[Lindy]

Great tour and history! Looks like a very interesting place to visit.

[Hildred]

These old ghost towns are fascinating places - I am not sure if old B.C. mining towns have any inhabitants now - they didn't when we used to travel and visit them but times do change. It is hard to imagine the sites now as bustling centres of mining activity just a hundred years ago. Thanks for coming to visit, Sallie, - I have found Heather Lende's other book and borrowed it from the library....

[Holz]

Interesting post. The church picture is my fave.

[Life Images by Jill]

it must be so fascinating to roam around these old towns. I am sure it was a bustling places during the days of bushrangers, and gunslingers, and the silver mines.

[Cynthia]

Brought back memories as I visited there as a kid. What I remember best is being very cold!

[Pondside]

We have ghost towns up here to, but the mostly just sink into the earth and are taken over by the blackberry and cedars. BC was gold rush country and many small towns sprang up, only to be abandoned when the rush was over.
Thanks for your visit and your lovely comment!

[Karen, Pixel Posts]

Quaint little place. I like the fact that it is being preserved.

[TexWisGirl]

i'd have a hard time calling it a summer vacation home if i couldn't have electricity! :) but i'm used to summer a/c here. :)

[Fun60]

What an interesting posts. We've all seen the westerns butnow you've shown us what remains of those towns. Fascinating.

[sylviakirk]

Great tour for the day, Sallie!! Love your captures and I, too, am glad to learn that it's been put on the National Register!! Hope you have a wonderful week!

[Eileen]

Sallie, neat tour of the Silver City. Nice to see that it is protected being on the National Register of Historic Places. I can picture a gunfight there, thanks for the tour. Have a happy week!

[Arija]

It certainly has the feeling of a frontier town. Good to see this place that is a monument to life that can be happily lived without electricity.

[Jane]

Interesting place, thanks for sharing :)

[Riet]

What a very special post. Silver city I heard about it.

[Boom & Gary]

Wonderful tour!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.