Silver City is a town in Grant County, New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat and the home of Western New Mexico University. As of the 2010 census the population was 10,315. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,704.

History

The valley that is now the site of Silver City once served as an Apache campsite. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the area became known for its copper mining. The Apaches occupied areas in the vicinity of Silver City beginning in the late 1500s to early 1600s, based on archaeological evidence.

Founding of town After the American Civil War, a settlement developed and became known as "La Ciénega de San Vicente" (the Oasis of St. Vincent). With a wave of American prospectors, the pace of change increased, and Silver City was founded in the summer of 1870. The founding of the town occurred shortly after the discovery of silver ore deposits at Chloride Flat, on the hill just west of the farm of Captain John M. Bullard and his brother James. Following the silver strike, Captain Bullard laid out the streets of Silver City, and a bustling tent city quickly sprang to life. Although the trajectory of Silver City's development was to be different from the hundreds of other mining boom towns established during the same period, Captain Bullard himself never lived to see even the beginnings of permanence, as he was killed in a confrontation with Apache less than a year later, on February 23, 1871.

Gun fighting The town's violent crime rate was substantial during the 1870s. However, Grant County Sheriff Harvey Whitehill was elected in 1874, and gained a sizable reputation for his abilities at controlling trouble. In 1875, Whitehill became the first lawman to arrest Billy the Kid, known at the time under the alias of Henry Antrim. Whitehill arrested him twice, both times for theft in Silver City (Sheriff Whitehill testified to the Justice of the Peace that he believed Henry Antrim did not do the actual stealing the second time arrested, but assisted in the hiding of the property stolen by Sombrero Jack). Whitehill would later claim that the young man was a likeable kid, whose stealing was a result more of necessity than criminal. His mother is buried in the town cemetery. In 1878, the town hired its first town marshal, "Dangerous Dan" Tucker, who had been working as a deputy for Whitehill since 1875. Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch were also reported to frequent the Silver City saloons in the late 1800s.

Mrs. Lettie B. Morrill, in a talk given to the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter in Silver City on September 19, 1908, stated, "John Bullard was placed in the first grave dug in Silver City, having been killed while punishing the Indians for an attack upon the new town; the brothers were prospectors about the country for many years. The last one left for the old home about 1885, saying, 'It is only a matter of time until the Indians get me if I stay here.'" Silver City was also the starting point for many expeditions hunting for treasures, such as the Lost Adams Diggings.

Mining and rail development The communities of Silver City and Pinos Altos developed as 19th century miners recovered easily extracted copper, gold and silver from ore deposits of the area. Standard-gauge Santa Fe Railroad reached Silver City in 1886, and Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad was incorporated in 1889 to build a railway north to Mogollon. Construction was limited to of grading until Wisconsin-based Comanche Mining and Smelting purchased the railroad in 1903Myrick (1970) p. 150 after horse-drawn ore transport became uneconomical. The Silver City smelter burned shortly after purchase, but was rebuilt with three blast furnaces and a reverberatory furnace to handle 225 tons of ore per day. Regular SC, PA&M steam service was briefly running from 1907 to 1913.

New Mexico Western State Teachers College In 1893, New Mexico Normal School was established. It was later known as New Mexico Western State Teachers College. In 1963, it was renamed Western New Mexico University. Today, WNMU offers eight graduate degrees, 41 baccalaureate degrees, and 18 associate degree and certificate programs. The WNMU's mascot is referred to as the Mustangs. Recognition for the university includes the 2003 Zia Award, the 2005 Best Practice Award (for the School of Education), the 2006 Chamber of Commerce Large Business of the Year Award, the 2008 Piñon Award, and the 2008 Compañero Award.

Flooding The town had originally been designed with the streets running north to south. It was also built without adequate planning for stormwater runoff. Businesses sprang up, and people learned to deal with the inconveniences of the summer rain. Silver City was built with high sidewalks in the downtown area to accommodate high flood waters. However, uncontrolled grazing and deforestation over time in the surrounding area contributed to higher levels of runoff. During the night of July 21, 1895, a heavy wall of water rushed through the downtown business district, leaving a trail of destruction. A ditch lower than the original street level was created in what was once known as Main Street."Destruction of Main Street", Silver City Daily Press, July 9, 1975, p. 7 Businesses on Main Street began using their back doors on Bullard Street as main entrances and eventually, were permanently used as the new front entrances. To this day, the incorrect odd/even addressing conventions on the east side of Bullard Street are a reminder that the buildings were addressed on Main Street originally, not Bullard Street. Main Street now ends near the back of the Silver City Police Station, where the Big Ditch Park begins.

Mimbres Mogollon remains The Mimbres Mogollon Indians (A.D. 200–A.D. 1140/50) once lived in the area, along with other prehistoric groups, including the Salado. Mimbres archaeological sites are located throughout Silver City and surrounding communities on federal, state, municipal, and private property. Collecting of Mimbres pottery by landowners and others is documented as far back as the late 1870s. Collecting was something that occurred during a Sunday picnic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some individuals maintained collections that can now be seen in the Smithsonian and other museums, who sent individuals out to acquire collections in the nearby Mimbres Valley during the early 1900s. Others dug into the ancient sites and used the pottery they found for target practice—something that occurred into the 1930s according to oral histories. Collecting and the looting of Mimbres Mogollon sites did not stop with archaeological research conducted on private lands during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1970s, nor with the passage of the New Mexico "Burial Law" in 1989. Sadly, unlawful looting continues to this day, and many prehistoric sites have been badly damaged or obliterated.

Geography Silver City is located near the center of Grant County, at the southern foot of the Pinos Altos Range of the Mogollon Mountains. The town is east of the Continental Divide, in the valley of San Vicente Arroyo, a south-flowing tributary of the Mimbres River.

U.S. Route 180 passes through the northern part of the town, leading east to Bayard and northwest to Cliff. New Mexico State Road 90 (Hudson Street) leads southwest to Lordsburg and Interstate 10, and State Road 15 leads north to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Silver City has a total area of , of which , or 0.17%, is water.

Geology The local geology of the Silver City area is complex. Sedimentary gravels are found in the form of the alluvial Mangas Valley gravels. Metamorphic schist and gneiss are also found. The downtown area is mostly made of granite outcrops.

Climate The climate of Silver City is classified as Csa (Mediterranean with hot summers and cool winters) in the Köppen system. A Mediterranean climate is unusual in New Mexico, occurring only in a small upland area in the southwestern part of the state. Silver City's climate is characterized by moderate rainfall in fall and winter (October to February), a dry spring (March to June), and rains from (July to September) in what is called the North American Monsoon. The monsoon, which is irregular from year to year, impacts mostly southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States.

During the period from 1901 to 1964, when readings were taken at the city center (which is cooler and wetter than outlying and lower-elevation districts nearby), the coldest temperature recorded was on January 11, 1962, and the hottest on July 5, 1901. The coldest month was January 1949, with a monthly mean temperature of , and the hottest, July 1951, which averaged . The wettest calendar year in this time span was 1914, with and the driest, 1947 with . The most snow in one season was between July 1912 and June 1913, which featured the coldest winter on record with as the mean from December to February.

Demographics

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Silver City had a population of 9,704. The median age was 44.5 years. 19.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 25.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.4 males age 18 and over.

96.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.5% lived in rural areas.

There were 4,293 households in Silver City, of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 33.3% were married-couple households, 22.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 38.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 4,954 housing units, of which 13.3% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.2%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number PercentWhite 5,962 61.4%Black or African American 185 1.9%American Indian and Alaska Native 203 2.1%Asian 118 1.2%Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 12 0.1%Some other race 1,225 12.6%Two or more races 1,999 20.6%Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 4,880 50.3%

2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 10,545 people, 4,227 households, and 2,730 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 4,757 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 71.7% White, 0.9% African American, 1.1% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 22.4% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.8% of the population.

There were 4,227 households, out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 15.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the town, the population by age was: 25.0% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $25,881, and the median income for a family was $31,374. Males had a median income of $28,476 versus $18,434 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,813. About 17.7% of families and 21.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.2% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy