SILVER REEF
Washington Co., UTAH
Silver
Reef is located in Washington County, 1.5 miles west of Leeds, which is along I-15 at EXIT 22, 15 miles north
of St. George. This fascinating old
silver mining town today is an anachronism.
A true ghost town mixed with modern, upscale
housing. The story of this fascinating little ghost begins
in 1866 when silver-bearing sandstone was discovered on the east slope of the
Pine Valley Mountains by John Kemple. However, the first claims weren't actually
worked until 1874. Word got out and a
rush ensued. According to popular
mining knowledge, silver isn't supposed to occur in sandstone, but somebody
forgot to tell the outcroppings that.
Between 1875 and 1888, some $10 million in silver was produced from the
sandstone reefs, which gave the town its name.
By 1877, the town had over 100 businesses stretched
out along a mile long main street. A
racetrack, brewery and brass band were added attributes that many mining towns
didn't have. In 1879, 2000 citizens were
counted, but that year a major fire swept through town, silver prices dropped,
labor disputes cropped up and water flooded the lower working levels in the
mines. The mines continued producing,
but in 1888 the boom was over. By 1890,
only 177 people remained, and in the early 1900s many of the remaining
buildings were demolished. In 1908, fire
destroyed almost all that remained, and the remaining mines closed down by
1909. A few people remained behind, one
of whom lived in the old dressed stone Wells Fargo & Co Express building
until the late 1940s.
Today, two of the buildings have been restored, and
one, the Cosmopolitan Restaurant has been completely rebuilt on the original
spot, and looking the same. When I
stopped by in July
2008, the restaurant was operating, and a couple of
HIGH DOLLAR cars were parked out front.
When we visited in April
2012, the restaurant had been closed and the interior
was empty. The homes mentioned above lie
just to the north of and immediately adjacent to the northern end of the townsite. Silver
Reef still has a handful of ruins, as well as the
restored Wells Fargo Building and the 1876 John
Rice Bank building. A museum
is housed in the Wells
Fargo & Company Express building, which is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most
recognizable and most-photographed ghost town buildings in the country.
The formerly mile-long main street has been reduced
to several hundred yards, and quiet now reigns where all once bustled. The town is decorated with a few signs
identifying where buildings once stood, as well as cottonwoods and desert
scrub, all backed by the green-dappled, beige and red mountains to the
west.
The two-story Rice
Building was made of mortared adobe brick/cut rock, with a
full basement and wooden floors. It had
burned sometime before 1990. In 1990 it
was “scheduled for restoration at a future date.” At the time of my visits in 2008 and 2012 it
was fully restored, but not open (probably due to the time we arrived).
About 150 feet north of the Wells
Fargo building are the roofless,
rock-walled ruins of what was once the
Chinese Saloon and Drug, as well as the Leopold Goldberg Store. They face onto Main Street, and were located
between the cross streets of Barbee and Center Streets. As these structures are unstable, please use
caution and abide by any signage.
Between these ruins and the Wells Fargo building,
the gully
holds the ruins of several other structures, such as the Clancy
Market, McCormick Store, and the two-story Harrison House (hotel), which
fronted onto Center Street, which has long since disappeared. Up the hill towards the mines is the rock-walled
remains of the Peter
Harrison residence and a large ore
bin, both of which are interesting to explore. Spend time, gaze inside
the ore bin and imagine it filled with silver-bearing ore awaiting processing.
Silver Reef is a worthwhile stop if you are in the
St. George area. Be sure to visit the Wells
Fargo Silver Reef Museum and Gallery and tell Eric that Gary sent you!
This was our GHOST TOWN OF THE MONTH for February 2000.
It has been modified and
numerous photos from our journeys there in July 2008 and April 2012 have been
added.
It was reposted as our GHOST TOWN OF
THE MONTH
for May/June 2012.
LOCATION:
·
N½, E Sec line 1, T41S, R14W, Salt Lake
Baseline & Meridian
·
N½ W Sec line 5, T41S, R13W, SLM
·
Latitude: 37.252759 / 37° 15’ 10” N
·
Longitude: -113.3677281 / 113° 22’ 04” W
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FIRST
POSTED: February 01,
2000
LAST
UPDATED: July 16 2012
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