Big Ditch Park WHEN SILVER CITY’S FOUNDING FATHERS CREATED THE TOWN SITE IN THE LATTER 1800S, THEY LAID OUT THE grid like those of many eastern cities – with the streets running due north, south, east and west. They did not realize that the new town’s proximity to a north/south running slope would encourage a natural disaster to occur. In 1895 and again in 1903, flash floodwaters roared down Silver City’s Main Street, gouging out a huge ditch with a bottom some 55 feet below the original street level. As rains continued to feed the creek in the years that followed, cottonwood trees grew, providing shade. The town’s Main Street was gone, but every adversity carries with it the seed of an opportunity. Working together, local businesses, residents and civic organizations created a beautiful and unique downtown park. Big Ditch Park can be accessed via the footbridge at the Silver City Visitor Center parking lot.
20 – THE SOURCE
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