Silver City is the name of an inholding in Sequoia National Park located at Mile 21 on the 25-mile road to Mineral King.[5] 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.[6] 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]
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.[7]
