RonnieAdventure #0092 - Silver Reef, Washington County, Utah

There are a lot of different stories about who and when silver was first discovered in the Silver Reef area, but it is known that the Smithsonian Institute called early ore samples that they examined from the area “interesting fakes.” The entire area is composed almost entirely of sandstone and everyone knows that you cannot find silver in sandstone. (Silver Reef is now recognized as the only place in the United States where mineable silver is found in sandstone.) It is believed that silver was first discovered in the 1860s, but it was about 1875 before people were convinced that the silver deposits were legitimate and various mining operations were started.

At first the area was called Bonanza City, but real estate prices were so high people couldn't afford to live there; so the miners started building “shacks” on a nearby ridge and called the community "Rockpile." However, with the arrival of families and businesses, the name “Rockpile” was changed to “Silver Reef” because the name sounded more sophisticated. The "Silver Reef" name was chosen because the buckled sandstone cliffs in the area give the appearance of an ocean reef.

By 1879, 2,000 people lived in Silver Reef and the town had a mile-long main street, including hotels, restaurants, stores, a post office, 6 saloons, 2 dance halls, a hospital, 2 newspapers, 2 cemeteries, and a Wells Fargo Express Station. Of the original structures, the Wells Fargo Station is one of the few original buildings that remains intact. (The building is the oldest, continuously standing Wells Fargo Express Station in the World.)

In the brief period that the mines flourished, over 8,000,000 ounces of Silver were extracted from 37 mines in the area. To process the large quantity of ore, at one time there were five stamp mills operating in the area. Ruins of the Barbee & Walker Mill can still be seen on the side of a hill near the Wells Fargo Express Station.

During the boom days, mine tunnels were drilled at every silver outcropping that could be located along the ridges; so the area is now a large honeycomb of mine shafts. In 1990, the State of Utah closed 465 mine shafts to keep people from accidently falling down an open pit; however, there are still a number of open shafts in the area. 

The main mining boom was from 1875 to 1888, but mining continued on a reduced scale until 1901. The mines were subsequently opened twice in later years, but never to the same extent as the 1875 boom years. Silver Reef was then left to be a ghost town with its picturesque crumbling rock walls and foundations.

Today, Silver Reef can be reached by a paved road and there is a resurgence of activity in the area as new homes are being constructed in and around the old town site. The Wells Fargo Express Station has been restored and is now operated as a museum. The museum is only 1.5 miles from the freeway and it is open on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM; so it makes a great stop when traveling by on the way to Las Vegas or Salt Lake City.