Exploring Silver City’s Ghost Town | Camping & Historic Idaho Hotel Bar

Welcome back to A Lot of Adventures. Today I'm in Silver City, Idaho. This is an old ghost town that was established in 1864. I'm sure everyone's heard of California Gold Rush. Well, in Idaho they had the Silver Rush in Silver City. And today we're going to just explore the ghost town, show you the site, show you the old buildings. Let's do it. Okay, so here, two houses. And people actually live here. You can see the curtains. They got the blinds. And I just saw there's another house right here. I just saw there was an outhouse. So there's the toilet right there. And look, they got wood for the winter. The elevation here is about 6,200 feet. So it gets quite cold. And there's a lot of snow. Okay, right up here we have the meat market that was established in 1867. Looks like it was owned by Hoffer and Miller. It would sell as a wholesale or retail. And Willie Hall's residence from 1876 to 1968. Wow. I guess there was a barbershop. Looks like right there. Wow. Okay. Okay, they actually have names of streets. Currently on Washington Street. This is Washington Street. And we have Dead Man Alley. Wow. Dead Man Alley. We don't want to be walking down that, honey. And then we got right here, looks like you could buy fruits and vegetables fresh in season here. And then up here we have the post office. So they actually had a post office up here. Here it is. Here's what it looked like back in the late 1800s, 1890s, I think that photo was taken. And, you know, these are the National Historic Building. It's registered, actually. So there's the old post office. Looks like you got a cow head right there, a cow skull. All right. Okay, looks like they have, this is the Silver Slipper Saloon. Looks like they're doing a little remodeling. Private property. There's the drugstore. Looks like someone lives up there, actually. Very cool. Another house up there. Someone lives up there. Looks like they're sitting up there. You got two more houses, three more houses right here. Looks like this one's not, I think nobody is living in there. But the two houses over there, looks like they got solar panels up there. Yeah, both the houses. Nice. And then this looks like it's the heart of the town right here. It says, one way, do not enter. This is how I got in, how we drove in. So I don't know how I'm going to leave, but this definitely looks like the original. Somebody lives here. Private property. A lot of these buildings have private property signs on them. We have, this is like a gift shop. It's called Pat's What's Not, What Not Shop. It has jewelry, gifts, souvenirs, books, cards. And this one here, this is the Idaho, I think it's the Idaho Hotel. Yeah. Food, drinks, lodging, open. So the rooms are up there. And they got a bar and a lounge. Hello. There's the gift shop, a Silver City Fire and Rescue gift shop. We'll go in there later. Yeah. Okay, another private residence. Another one right here. Nice little house. Look, you got the outhouse right there. Oh, looks like we got the country club here. Members only. Estimated 1957. Maybe this is where they have their board meetings for the town. Oh, we got the cemetery down that way. I'm not going to go down there though. Shown by appointment. That's interesting. The outhouse. Oh, you got the church up on the hill there. How you doing? Two more houses. It's a one-way. This is the way we came in. And then this is the way you go out. Actually, down that way. Another house up here. There's a church up on the hill. Looks like it's roped off. You can't get up there. I don't know. Let me see if I can go up there. There's a way. Public toilets. So, supposedly, they struck silver on one of these mountains called Eagle Mountain. And then they just created the town right at the base. So, I would imagine this is probably Eagle Mountain. Because you got mountains surrounding the town. Okay, so here's the school. The town school. Called Idaho Standard School. Established in 1892. It's a big schoolhouse. Probably a couple hundred children. What's this? Oh, this must be maybe another outhouse. Who knows? And then we have, over here, looks like more houses where people live. And this is called Kiesel Place. Nice. I couldn't imagine living up here. I think everybody... There's another outhouse. I think everybody that lives here has solar. I've noticed that. Hello. Oh. What's this right here? Right along the creek. Maybe somebody lives in there. I don't know. Oh, we have a barn. It's called the Daily Barn. Estimated 1897. Built by William Gabriel. A couple more houses up there. Looks like you've got a corral here. An old corral. Could have been the original. It's pretty old. Okay, so let's go inside the hotel. The Idaho Hotel. Wow. This is actually an active hotel. Hello. Do you serve food now? The grill will open up for lunch at 1130. Okay. We've got pies, snacks, and drinks at the moment. Oh, I agree. Can I go through there and just do a quick... Alright. Thank you. So this is a salon. This is the bar. Oh. Oh, sorry. Here's the bar. Opens up at 1130. And here's the lounge area, or I guess the restaurant. Already got reservations. Here's a window view from the restaurant, bar, or restaurant hotel. Wow. You can buy some souvenirs here. Idaho Hotel hat. And they have... Here's... Looks like they have a lot of pie. Things for the pies. Alright. Okay. Approximately that's 25 cents. Overnight guests beyond this door only, please. Up there is where all the rooms are. No, I don't think so. I think he's... Okay. I think I forgot to tell you. We're actually camping in Silver City. There's six camping sites just outside the boundaries of Silver City. It's a walking distance. But let me show you the campsite. So here's our car. Here's how we got in. We had to four-wheel drive it in. So we can take... We can actually barbecue tonight or do a campfire. Here's our picnic table with our lantern. New propane tank. New mantles. Our insect repellent. We need it because I have O negative blood and they freaking love my blood. And then here's our tent. Okay guys, don't laugh. Don't laugh. I just bought this tent today. Now that I did everything perfect except for the cover on top. It's a little off. But it works. Obi's food and water dish. And by the way, this is the first time Obi is camping. Oh, there's an animal. What do you got, Obi? What do you see? Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Obi sees it. Alright. Okay. And then here's our chairs. We got our ice chest. Got a little cup holders on each chair. We are good to go. So next up we're gonna... It's only like... It's not even 1 o'clock. So what we're gonna do... Unfortunately we didn't bring any food. We forgot to bring some sandwiches for tonight. But we're gonna go to the Idaho Hotel. And supposedly they have really good food. So, uh... That's our next thing we're gonna do. Enjoy. By the way... Apparently I'm not a very good picture taker. Not a good photographer. Every time I try to take good pictures of Katya... She doesn't like any of them. Probably like... I'll take a hundred. And she might choose one or two. And right now I took like ten. And she's trying to find one that she likes. No, look. You took all these leashes. Oh, okay. Alright. Why? You took all these leashes. Okay, I'm sorry honey. Okay. Freemasons are everywhere. Even in Silver City. Look. Right up there. 1881. And this is private property. I don't know if it's an active chapter. Probably not. But, listen. They were here. They're not still here. You never know. Oh, by the way. I kind of know their secret handshake. So like, I ran out of gas in Petaluma. And I... Somehow, I got a tow truck. He came there. And he got my... He started towing my car. And he goes... I go, I'm not from around here. And he instantly went like this. Are you a Freemason? I go, no. I'm not a Freemason. Well, that's kind of a code word. It's a code sentence. That you're a Freemason. And if you are a Freemason, then... I'm going to... This is a free tow for you. Well, unfortunately... No, I'm not a Freemason, sir. So anyway, there's my story. And there's the family. Got two kids coming out of the Freemason house. Well, let me get them. Let me get them. Okay. Okay, I'm at... I'm at the hotel. Just ordered two cheeseburgers and two beers. And it was right around $31, and I took five. So it was about $36. And one thing I want to show you... Right up here... Oh, let me see. No problem. Oh, I'm sorry. I wanted to show you the population. Twelve in the summer. 2,500 at the most. In the winter, there's like two people that live here. They've had telephone service since 1880. Unbelievable. And they get four to six feet of snow. Okay, so here's the view from the hotel. Okay, so I talked to a town local. And I asked him, I go, Hey, how much did you pay for your house? And he's like, I can't tell you. I go, all right, all right. So what's kind of the low end? He goes, oh, low end's about $50,000. And the high end, you know, $50,000 if there's a lot of work that needs to be done. And if there's not a lot of work to be done, then it's $100,000. And I go, oh, so you're kind of like in the middle? He goes, no, they didn't know the value of their property. So I think he got it for less than $50,000. And it's kind of soundproof. I don't know, I can't remember why he said it was soundproof. But the walls are like 12 inches thick. It's like, oh, okay. So anyways, the houses range from $50,000 to $100,000. There's 12 people that live here, like I said earlier, like in the summer, and only two in the winter. And the food that they have here, it has to be delivered 75 miles. My parents is 73 miles, so I don't know where they get their food. But you need a 4x4 to get here, by the way. So just thought that was an interesting fact, tidbits. Okay, so evidently the locals like to hang out here at the hotel, on the patio, and just watch all the tourists come by. So let me show you. Hang out. Obie likes to hang out, too. But yeah, those are all the locals. Okay, so now it's the next morning. We're all packed up, ready to go, and we're going to make that drive down the mountain. It's a 30-mile dirt road, and Katya does not like it. You can look down, and it's thousands of feet. So anyways, I hope you enjoyed the video. It was very interesting for us. A ghost town with 12 people living in it during the summer and two in the winter. Somebody on Facebook asked me, Hey, would you live there? No way. No way would I live here. There's nothing to do. I'd be bored. And you're like, you know, you're one hour from the main road. So anyway, but it was a great experience. Listen, it's a real ghost town, people. So I really recommend coming and visit. Okay, until next time. Ciao. Okay. Now that's four wheelin'.