Silver City
Unincorporated
Silver City Position in California.
Coordinates: 36°27′50″N 118°39′03″W / 36.46389°N 118.65083°W / 36.46389; -118.65083
Country	United States
State	California
County	Tulare
Area [1]
• Total	0.576 sq mi (1.491 km2)
• Land	0.576 sq mi (1.491 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation [2]	6,732 ft (2,052 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	0
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
GNIS feature ID	2585449
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Silver City, California

Silver City is a census-designated place (CDP) in the mountainous area of central Tulare County, California.^[2] Silver City sits at an elevation of 6,732 feet (2,052 m).^[2] It lies 72 km ENE of Visalia, California, within the boundary of Sequoia National Park. The 2010 United States census reported Silver City was uninhabited.^[3]

Silver City is the name of an inholding in Sequoia National Park located at Mile 21 on the 25-mile road to Mineral King.^[4] It consists of 58 fee-simple lots, 39 of which have cabins on them, plus a commercial area consisting of a store, restaurant and several rental cabins called the Silver City Mountain Resort.^[5] It is classified as a transient non-community because it is occupied only during the spring, summer and fall but not during the winter.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²), all of it land.

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that the area surrounding Silver City has supported indigenous peoples for thousands of years.^{[citation needed]} A Yokuts tribe called Wukchumni established permanent campsites along the Kaweah River in the lower elevations below Silver City.^{[citation needed]} During the hot summers, these people moved to the higher elevations, thus becoming the first users of the Silver City area.^{[citation needed]} They traded with the Monache and the Numic peoples who came over the Sierras from the eastern side in hunting and foraging movements.^{[citation needed]}

The first settler of the modern historical era homesteaded Silver City in 1856; Hale Tharp. In 1858 Tharp’s brother-in-law, John Swanson, erected a dwelling there.^{[citation needed]} For several subsequent years, valley ranchers used the alpine areas during the summer heat, allowing their cattle to graze there.^{[citation needed]}

By 1873, sufficient metal ore had been identified in the nearby mountains to cause a minor gold rush. Although short-lived, it consolidated Mineral King and Silver City into viable summertime communities.^[6]