Silver City Does Its Own Thing

Silver City, Nevada – In her 1976 article, "Long Hair, Liberal Ideas: Silver City Folk Do Their Own Thing," RGJ reporter Lenita Powers wrote, “Silver City residents do their own thing and are delighted with their bustling little community. This once booming, once almost ghost town, has experienced a poulation boom in the last decade.”

Her well-researched article is a lot of fun to read, especially if you've lived in Silver City very long. Many of the things that locals boasted to Powers about in 1976 still hold true - the community is still "close-knit" and "dedicated to its children," with a populace comprised of many "exceptionally creative people" who take "fierce pride in their volunteer fire department" and the town's low crime rate.

Among the things that have changed? Age demographics. In 1976, town advisory board member Chan Laughlin (aka legendary radio commentator Travus T. Hipp) told Lenita Powers that roughly "one-third" of the town was composed of children. Today, only about 10% of the town population is under 18. This is partly because many of the children of those responsible for the mid- 1960s and early 1970s "cultural re-population" of Silver City grew up and moved away, even as their parents remained in the historic Comstock community.

PHOTO OF CHAN LAUGHLIN, COURTESY OF THE GERMINO ARCHIVE.

Nevertheless, the legacy of this town "dedicated to its children" is evident in the accomplishments of many of those who grew up in Silver City in the last half of a century, and in the accomplishments of their children as well.

For instance, Mary Works Covington, who grew up in Silver City, was the assistant sound or dialog editor for films like Titanic, Contact, The English Patient and Saving Private Ryan, and also directed the documentary Rockin' at the Red Dog; The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock. Geographer Robert Elston, who grew up in Silver City, was among those responsible for the first-ever Nevada survey of breeding birds (Atlas Of The Breeding Birds Of Nevada). And musician Tal Morris, CEO of Audio Signatures, also co-owns Ice House Studios where he's worked with clients such as Rozzi Crane, Troy Lukketta, Dick Bright, MIRV, and Devon Baldwin.

A 2015 re-staging of an iconic 1970s town photo by Jake Wise attracted current locals, as well as many of the children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren of the 1970s newcomers "who matriculated to the Comstock Lode to swell the tiny town's census to 150."

The 2015 town photo, staged in the same spot, is evidence of the hard working folks the little community presently includes and/or has produced: artists, hydrologists, musicians, documentary film makers, photographers, geographers, social workers, entrepreneurs, publishers, artisans, fire fighters, engineers, physicists, computer programmers, archaeologists, writers, history consultants, librarians, editors, K-12 school teachers, and university professors.

A version of this article appeared in the MVN in Dec 2017. A longer version with images from Lenita Powers' 1976 article appears on this blogsite in an earlier post. Special thanks to Carol Godwin for locating the Powers' article at the Nevada State Library and Archives.