The Story
Silver City was settled in 1876 during a wave of silver prospecting; Custer's 1874 expedition had already named the spot "Elkhorn Prairie." The camp grew at the head of what is now Pactola Lake on Rapid Creek and was once served by the "Crouch Line" railroad. It's frequently confused with a different, actually-submerged town called "Pactola" — but Silver City sits at the upstream western end of the reservoir and was never drowned. It survives today as a small unincorporated community of roughly 80 homes with a church, volunteer fire department, and community center in the old schoolhouse.
Surprising Facts
→ Custer's 1874 expedition had already named this spot "Elkhorn Prairie" before the silver rush.
→ It's often confused with the actually-submerged "Pactola" townsite — but Silver City sits upstream and was never flooded.
→ It has never been tracked as an official Census-designated place, despite ~80 homes today.