Silver Reef was founded in the late 1860's. In 1874, a man named William T. Barbee started the first mine. By 1875, he had more than 20 claims. By the next year, Silver Reef was becoming more of a permanent settlrment. It eventually had over 2,000 people. It had all of the modern conviences (at the time) including hotels, stores, restaurants, hospital, dance halls, and a newspaper. The main street was over a mile long. But the ore finally gave out and the last mine closed in 1891. There are many old buildings and structures remaining at Silver Reef, including a Wells Fargo office, powderhouse and a bank. Many of the buildings go down a draw to the west of the townsite, and there are a couple buildings still on the west side of the draw up on the hill. Some of these buildings can blend in well with their surroundings, so if go to Silver Reef, look carefully and explore the area thoroughly or you may miss some interesting structures. Silver Reef is located just off I-15 exit #22 or #23 in Southwest Utah.
