Silverton, New South Wales
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Silverton is a small village at the far west of
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, north-west of
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
. At the , Silverton had a population of 50. The town sprang up after the discovery of rich
silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
deposits, although it was soon eclipsed by an even richer silver-lead-zinc ore body at nearby
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
. The town is often referred to as a
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
;"Silverton." ''Broken Hill: Accessible Outback.'' 2007, Edition 15, p26. however, there remains a small permanent population and mainly tourist related businesses.


History

The earliest human settlers in the area are thought to be the Wiljakali"History." ''Broken Hill: Accessible Outback.'' 2007, Edition 15, p4.
people A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
, although this was probably only intermittent due to lack of permanent water sources. As in much of Australia, a combination of disease and aggression by white settlers drove them from their lands. The first
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an to visit the area was the then
Surveyor General of New South Wales The Surveyor-General of New South Wales is the primary government authority responsible for land and mining surveying in New South Wales. The original duties for the Surveyor General was to measure and determine land grants for settlers in New So ...
,
Major Thomas Mitchell Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), Surveyor (surveying), surveyor and European land exploration of Australia, explorer of Southeastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he too ...
, in 1841. Three years later, in 1844, the explorer
Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...
saw and named the Barrier Range while searching for an inland sea; the range was so named as it was a barrier to his progress north.
Burke and Wills The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria in Australia in 1860–61. It consisted of 19 men led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, with the objective of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the s ...
passed through the area in their famous 1860-61 expedition, setting up a base camp at nearby
Menindee Menindee (frequently but erroneously spelled "Menindie" ) is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Darling River, with a sign-posted population of 980 and a population of 551. ...
.
Pastoralists Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal s ...
first began settling the area in the 1850s, with the main trade route to the area along the
Darling River The Darling River ( Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka'') is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its conflu ence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longes ...
.
Prospectors Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. ...
began working in the area in 1867 when a local station-hand claimed to have found
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
there. It was later discovered that his plan was merely a pretext for stealing a horse. Some years later in 1875, two men drilling a well on a station south of the town site hit a
lode In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock. The current meaning (ore vein) dates from the 17t ...
of
silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
. Silverton was recognised as a town on 17 September 1880 and Richard O'Connell was sent in charge of the police. Among his many other duties was Acting Clerk of Petty Sessions, Mining Registrar and Warden's Clerk. In October 1886 the Silverton Municipal Council was formed and held its inaugural meeting in January 1887 in the Silverton Municipal Chambers, which still exist. The town's population quickly increased reaching a peak around 3,000 in the 1890s, and the
Silverton Tramway The Silverton Tramway was a 58-kilometre-long railway line running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970, it served the mines in Broken Hill, and formed the lin ...
was opened in 1888 connecting the town to South Australia. Many of the houses built were of simple
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and
canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...
construction. The rapid depletion of the high-grade
ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...
around Silverton, along with the discovery of an even richer silver-lead-zinc ore body in nearby
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
led to a sudden decline in Silverton's population, with many of those leaving taking their homes with them.


20th century

By 1901 the town and immediate area was home to less than 300 people, but it remained popular as a venue for recreational outings by Broken Hill residents. In 1915
The Battle of Broken Hill The Battle of Broken Hill was a fatal incident which took place in Australia near Broken Hill, New South Wales, on 1 January 1915. Two men shot dead four people and wounded seven more, before being killed by police and military officers. Thou ...
took place when a New Year's Day picnic train from
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
to Silverton was attacked by a gunman from
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, and modern-day
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. Penrose Park, named after John Penrose, a pioneering brewer at Silverton, was the attraction for these picnic excursions. Located beside Umberumberka Creek in a rare belt of greenery at the outskirts of Silverton, it was not so much a product of the early mining era at Silverton as of the mining boom at
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
. In 1893 it was the unsuccessful site for a racecourse. Then for decades it became a picnic ground, but remained relatively neglected until the mid-1930s when the Broken Hill mining companies decided it was an admirable recreation site for their employees. Money was spent on upgrading sporting facilities, playgrounds, and parklands, such that throughout the 1940s and 50s it became a major recreational facility. Huge annual picnics/fairs were held there by social and sporting clubs, and by mining companies. For example, it was reported that the eighth annual Zinc Mine employees picnic in 1941 attracted one fifth of the entire town of Broken Hill. The convoys of family cars headed to and from Broken Hill to Penrose Park were so heavy that it became one of the first sealed roads outside Broken Hill. By the mid-1960s interest began to wane, as did support from the mining companies, and so the park fell into slow decline. Penrose Park remains today, but is now a quiet public campground, popular with families and 'Grey Nomads'. Although it is a mere shadow of its heyday half a century ago when it thronged with activity, many relics of that era remain.


Demographics

In the
2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an incre ...
, Silverton inhabitants were 46.9% Male and 53.1% female with a median age of 53. It has a total of 12 families in 39 private dwellings with a median household income of $899 per week.


Present day

Silverton today is inhabited by a permanent population of only about 50 people, but its history and location make it a relatively popular tourist destination. Several artists live in or around the town, including Peter Browne, Albert Woodroffe and John Dynon, with some maintaining their own galleries. This is in line with the significant number of artists working out of nearby Broken Hill, as the surrounding landscape and lighting is particularly amenable to the creation of art. Most of the original buildings have now vanished or lie in ruins, but there are some interesting buildings that remain, including the ''Silverton Hotel'' and the Silverton Gaol. By 2007, Silverton had been the scene for more than 140 films and commercials thanks to the light, the character-filled colonial buildings and its scenic desert surrounds. The hotel has been seen in several productions, and its inside walls are covered with memorabilia. These productions include ''
Razorback The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids. Definition A feral pi ...
'', ''
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman, played by Tere ...
'', ''
The Flying Doctors ''The Flying Doctors'' is an Australian drama TV series produced by Crawford Productions that revolves around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. T ...
'', and '' Dirty Deeds''. A 'lookalike' of the famous Mad Max car the 'Interceptor' was on display outside the hotel from 2002 but has since been sold and is no longer there. There is now, however, a privately owned ''
Mad Max 2 ''Mad Max 2'' (released as ''The Road Warrior'' in the United States) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. It is the second installment in the ''Mad Max'' franchise, with Mel Gibson reprising his role a ...
'' Museum that pays homage to the movie that was filmed in the region with much memorabilia and houses two Interceptor replicas. The Silverton Hotel was used in
800 Words ''800 Words'' (stylised as ''800 words'') is a comedy-drama television series, co-produced by South Pacific Pictures and Seven Productions for the Seven Network. Premise George Turner is a popular columnist for a top-selling Sydney newspaper, ...
as the location where Woody tracked down his wife to sign divorce papers.


Silverton cemetery

Just outside town, there is the Silverton cemetery. It houses 402 identified grave sites and is 42 acres large. It's located at Latitude: -31.874259 Longitude: 141.231716 GPS: 31 52.4556, 141 13.9032.


See also

* Silverton Wind Farm


References


External links


Silverton Village Committee Community website
{{authority control Unincorporated Far West Region Ghost towns in New South Wales Towns in New South Wales Mining towns in New South Wales