Businesses
Idaho Hotel

Rooms,Meals,Drinks
Pat's What Not Shop

Jewelry*Gifts*
*Souvenirs
Books & Cards
Silver City Fire & Rescue Store

Art, Antiques,Gifts & Backroom Bargains
Road Information
Maps:
Weather
Silver City Area Phone Numbers
EAGLE Informer Silver City Article
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Special Events/Dates of Interest
The Idaho Hotel is open for the season. Click for more info.
July 4th
Owyhee Cattlemen's Association
Labor Day Weekend
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A Short History of Silver City, Idaho
Silver City, Idaho is one of the few old mining towns
that did not burn down or become commercialized into a modern city.
Visiting Silver City is like going back into history. The Idaho
Hotel is as it was 100 years ago with a few modern amenities. Sinker
Creek Outfitters will provide you with a historic ride back into
history on horse back exploring the Owyhee Mountains, Silver City,
Empire City, Ruby City and more. At Pat's What Not Shop, books,
souvenirs, local mineral samples are available. Silver City Fire and Rescue Store provides Art, Antiques,Gifts & Backroom Bargains. Rugged and
picturesque, the 8,000 feet-high Owyhee Mountains surround Silver
City, elevation 6,200'. The history-filled town contains about
seventy-five structures that date from the 1860's to the early
1900's. During its "heydays", Silver City had about a dozen streets,
seventy-five businesses, three hundred homes, a population of around
2,500, twelve ore-processing mills, and was the Owyhee County seat
from 1866 to 1934. Some of the largest stage lines in the West
operated in the area, and Silver City had the first telegraph and
the first daily newspaper in the territory in 1874. Telephones were
in use here at least by 1880, and the town was "electrified" in the
1890's. There were four separate burial areas nearby, with a few
very interesting stones remaining; some quite large and elaborately
carved. All are well worth the hike to see and photograph. More that
two dozen camps provided shelter, supplies and amusement for the
thousands of people who came to the mountains seeking their fortunes
in one way or another. The ruins of some of these can still be found
though nature is reclaiming most of them at an accelerated rate.
Almost a dozen cemeteries and many more remote burial sites attest
to the hard and sometimes dangerous and violent lives led by many.
Hundreds of mines pock-mark and honeycomb the mountains; one had
upwards of seventy miles of tunnels laboriously hand-dug through it.
Between 1863 and 1865, more than two hundred and fifty mines were in
operation and hundreds more were developed thereafter. Through the
seventy-odd years of mining, more than twelve ore-processing mills
gleaned rich rewards in tons of gold and silver. Large stacks of
gold and silver ingots were photographed for posterity. At the very
least, sixty million dollars worth of precious metals were taken
from the area. At today's prices, that amount would be even more
impressive. At the present time, there are no major mines operating
in the area. The De Lamar Silver Mine began operation in 1977, shut
down in 2000, and is one of the largest open pit gold and silver
mines in the U.S. Today 3 businesses are open in Silver City. The
historic Idaho Hotel, Pat's What Not
Shop and Silver City Fire & Rescue Store. Each has a link on the left side of this page to take you to
their respective pages. Also visit ghosttowns.com for more information
on Silver City, Idaho and surrounding mining and
ghost towns.
Links
Owyhee County
Ghosttowns.com
Ghosttowns.com Silver City Page
Comments or questions about this page.email: webmaster@historicsilvercityidaho.com
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