Dozen Distinctive Destinations
Silver City, NM
Year Listed: 2002
Once an Apache Indian campsite, later the boyhood home of the notorious gunslinger Billy the Kid, and more recently a silver and copper mining boomtown, Silver City, N.Mex. is as strikingly beautiful as it is historic. Cradled nearly 6,000 feet high in the rolling Pinos Altos Mountains, the town is adjacent to both the Gila Wilderness and the Continental Divide. Recently selected as one of America's healthiest places to live and retire, Silver City boasts a mild climate, Victorian charm and low-key lifestyle that have long attracted visitors.
In 1870, the discovery of rich deposits of silver caused a tent city for thousands of miners to spring up practically overnight. As the city prospered, temporary shelters were gradually replaced by traditional Western-style buildings. Although silver mining suddenly collapsed in 1893, the city was able to survive the crisis because of its emergence as an agricultural and shipping center and, later, its shift to mining copper. As part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street program, Silver City's downtown area, largely built during the silver mining days, has been handsomely revitalized. The town's well-preserved cache of mining-era architecture is on proud display at the 1880 Ailman House, a mansard-roofed mansion that now houses the Silver City Museum.
Art and culture lovers will enjoy Silver City's year-round calendar of performances, exhibits, art education sessions, blues and jazz festivals, the Renaissance Fair and the San Vicente Artists' art festival. Visitors can also discover the ancient cultures of the Native Americans who inhabited the region hundreds of years ago by visiting the nearby Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and Western New Mexico University's Fleming Hall Museum, where collections of distinctive black-on-white Mimbres pottery are on display.
Opportunities for camping and hiking abound in City of Rocks State Park and the expansive Gila National Forest, both of which are a short distance from town. Silver City is also a natural headquarters for ghost town exploring. Several ghost towns are nearby - including Pinos Altos, which straddles the Continental Divide in a valley surrounded by juniper-covered mountains. In 1860, a disappointed California gold rusher discovered gold here while taking a drink from a stream. Mining prospered well into the 1920s, after which the town died and almost vanished. Today an opera house, mill and saloon have been restored.
Now it's your turn! Share your experiences or impressions of this Distinctive Destination: Unique restaurants, sights, family-friendly activities, hang outs, art galleries... tell visitors what they shouldn't miss!
