The first European to visit the area was the Surveyor General, Major Thomas Mitchell, in 1841. Three years later, the explorer Charles Sturt saw and named the Barrier Range while searching for an inland sea; the range was so named as it was a barrier to his progress north. Pastoralists first began settling the area in the 1850s, with the main trade route to the area along the Darling River.

In 1875, two men drilling a well on a station south of the town site hit a lode of silver. In 1881 John Stokie established the Umberumberka claim. Prospectors arrived and a settlement of around 150 people, known as Umberumberka, grew up 2 km south-west of the present day Silverton. It was not near water and so an alternative settlement was established 2 km away. At the time this second campsite was known as Umberumberka Creek. It would eventually change its name to Silverton.

In October 1886 the Silverton Municipal Council was formed and held its inaugural meeting in January 1887 in the Silverton Municipal Chambers, which still exist. The town’s population quickly increased reaching a peak around 3,000 in the 1890s.

Silverton was surveyed in 1883 when the population was 250. By the end of the year it had doubled. That year the Day Dream Mine opened and attracted an additional population of 400-500. In 1884 1,222 mineral leases, 937 business permits and 114 miners’ rights were issued. That same year 6,000 tonnes of ore were extracted and the town acquired its own newspaper, the Silver Age.

By 1885-86 the town’s population had reached 3,000. Silverton was proclaimed a township in 1885 and a municipality the following year. In 1885 a short-lived smelter was established at Day Dream Mine. It only lasted a year.

The present Broken Hill trade union movement had its origins in Silverton. A public meeting was held on 20th Sept 1884 which decided to form a Miners’ Association, mirroring a benefit society in England formed 2 centuries before. A program was agreed covering things like compensation, , hours of work and wages.

In 1888, after both the South Australian and NSW governments had refused to bring a railway to the town, the Silverton Tramway Company was set up. It subsequently built a line to the South Australian border.

In 1892 the Umberumberka mine closed. It was followed by Day Dream. The Thackaringa mine closed in 1897.  By 1901, after miners had moved to the richer fields at Broken Hill, the town went into decline, houses were moved and only 286 people remained. 

By 1901 the town and immediate area was home to less than 300 people, but it remained popular as a venue for recreational outings by Broken Hill residents. In 1915 The Battle of Broken Hill took place when a New Year’s Day picnic train from Broken Hill to Silverton was attacked by a gunman from Afghanistan, and modern-day Pakistan.

Penrose Park, named after John Penrose, a pioneering brewer at Silverton, was the attraction for these picnic excursions. Located beside Umberumberka Creek in a rare belt of greenery at the outskirts of Silverton, it was not so much a product of the early mining era at Silverton as of the mining boom at Broken Hill. 

Silverton today is inhabited by a permanent population of only about 50 people, but its history and location make it a relatively popular tourist destination. Several artists live in or around the town, including Peter Browne, Albert Woodroffe and John Dynon, with some maintaining their own galleries. This is in line with the significant number of artists working out of nearby Broken Hill, as the surrounding landscape and lighting is particularly amenable to the creation of art.

Most of the original buildings have now vanished or lie in ruins, but there are some interesting buildings that remain, including the Silverton Hotel and the Silverton Gaol. Silverton has been the scene for more than 140 films and commercials thanks to the light, the character-filled colonial buildings and its scenic desert surrounds. The hotel has been seen in several productions, and its inside walls are covered with memorabilia.