Outback Towns

Silverton

If you happen to be in Silverton in the evening, drive 5 km to the lookout west of town and watch the sun sink across the Mundi Mundi Plain ' the land seems to stretch to eternity.

About Silverton

The town of Silverton, 25 km west of Broken Hill, was once the largest township in the Barrier Ranges. The town boomed after silver was discovered here in the 1880s, and within a short period it had a population of 3,000, plus schools, banks, pubs and all the other public buildings that are typical of a thriving mining township. When the town’s silver boom ended just a few years after it had begun, the miners moved to Broken Hill, and Silverton was virtually abandoned, its rich legacy of impressive buildings left to the elements.

If you happen to be in Silverton in the evening, drive 5 km to the lookout west of town and watch the sun sink across the Mundi Mundi Plain – the land seems to stretch to eternity.

The Outback ‘Hollywood’

Today Silverton has a population of less than 70, but its photogenic qualities – blood-red earth and sunsets, solitary stone buildings and camels in the main street – have made it a favourite with visitors as well as film- and commercial-makers in search of authentic Outback scenery.

In fact Silverton is now known as the Hollywood of the Outback. The list of films made in and around the town includes Mission Impossible II, Wake in Fright, A Town Like Alice, Dirty Deeds, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Razorback and Mad Max II.

Featured prominently in these cinematic works, the Silverton Hotel has a display of still photographs from films that have been shot locally. There’s also a replica of Mad Max’s V8 Interceptor parked outside.

The town has several resident artists, and except for the hot summer months, there are usually studios and galleries open.

At the corner of Burke and Loftus streets, the former Silverton Gaol is now the town’s museum, which brings the story of Silverton’s history vividly alive with an enthralling collection of photographs, documents, household items and pastoral and mining equipment. The exhibits continue across the road at the old Court House.

Daydream Mine

At the Daydream Mine, near Silverton, take a one-hour walking tour through the silver mine and gain an insight into the gruelling business of mining a century ago. Opened in 1882 and worked intermittently for almost a century, the mine employed 150 men and 20 boys who toiled by candlelight. The mine shafts were so narrow that the miners often had to lie on their sides to work.

Features