The discovery of the rich mineral resources at Broken Hill in western New South Wales was preceded, firstly, by the general opening up of the district in the wake of the explorers and, secondly, by the persistent efforts of fossickers, prospectors and Cornish miners, who probed the length and breadth of the Barrier Ranges. Out of the develop- ments which ensued grew the township of SILVERTON, the original 'silver city."
For a few, brief years, Silverton enjoyed a pre-eminent position, and there were confident predictions that a permanent, thriving city would be established.
The development of the Broken Hill silver field, fifteen miles to the south-east, coincided with the exhaustion of the rich, but small, silver-lead deposits which had been unearthed at comparatively shallow depths in the Silverton district.
As the new township of Broken Hill grew and prospered, so the size and importance of Silverton correspondingly declined and with it all reasons for its existence.
Silverton, therefore, shared the fate of numerous 'ghost towns' scattered about the face of Australia, which appeared almost overnight, but vanished just as quickly, when the settlements had served their purpose.
This short history is designed to place on record some aspects of the life and times of Silverton, once the pride of the Barrier Ranges.