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B+History
History · Silver City

Silver City dates to 1870, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #9 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it

14 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 177 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1883 on, and the census since 1880.

1870founded
14on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
12famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Silver City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Silver City began

When was Silver City founded?

1870

Silver City dates its founding to 1870 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,800 in 18802020 census: 9,704156 years

How historic is Silver City?

B+

More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Silver City’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Silver City is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #9 of 73 in New Mexico. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Silver City’s overall grade.
Founding era1870, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194014.9% of homes (±3.5) · typical NM town 2.3% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register14 listings, 197 historic buildings, 207 per 10,000 residents · typical NM town 2.2 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 73%
NewerOlder
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 89%

New Mexico towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical New Mexico town has 2.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Silver City’s 207 sits above most of its state (96% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 197 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). Two sources give 1870.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Silver City’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Chihuahua Hill Historic District takes in 73 historic buildings.Mapped building by building7 fire insurance maps, 1883 to 1917, drew every building in Silver City.Landmarks on the Register14 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Silver City’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Silver City’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSilver City Sanatorium ("American medic…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

14 listings protect 197 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
14
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
197
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
H. B. Ailman House
H. B. Ailman HouseSilver City Historic DistrictSt. Mary's Academy Historic DistrictChihuahua Hill Historic DistrictSilver City Water Works BuildingBullard Hotel, built 1916Bowden Hall, built 1928Fleming Hall, built 1917Graham Gymnasium, built 1936Heating PlantLight Hall, built 1928Ritch Hall, built 1906Silver City Woman's Club, built 1936Silver City Historic District North Addition
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

California Mission Revival5
Queen Anne2
Victorian1
Second Empire1
Classical Revival1
Spanish Colonial1
H. B. Ailman HouseVictorian
Silver City Historic DistrictSecond Empire
St. Mary's Academy Historic DistrictMission Style
Chihuahua Hill Historic DistrictNew Mexico Vernacular
Silver City Water Works BuildingBuilding
Bullard HotelCommercial Style · Built 1916
Bowden HallCalifornia Mission Revival · Built 1928
Fleming HallCalifornia Mission Revival · Built 1917
All 14 listings
Graham GymnasiumBuilding · listed 1988Heating PlantBuilding · listed 1988Light HallBuilding · listed 1988Ritch HallBuilding · listed 1988Silver City Woman's ClubBuilding · listed 2003Silver City Historic District North AdditionDistrict · listed 1983

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Silver City, building by building, 1883–1917

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Silver City fire insurance map, 1883, sheet 11883Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Silver City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Silver City.

Read it all →

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.

ChaptersFounding of townGun fightingMining and rail developmentNew Mexico Western State Teachers CollegeFloodingMimbres Mogollon remains

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Silver City, 1870 to 1995

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870
    FoundingSilver City is established
  3. 1871Post officeThe Silver City post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906In the archiveSilver City Sanatorium ("American medical directory", 1906 advert)
  6. 1916BuiltBullard Hotel is built
  7. 1917BuiltFleming Hall is built
  8. 1917In the archiveNew Mexico - Silver City through Zuni Buttes
  9. 1928BuiltBowden Hall is built
  10. 1934Born hereJames Tenney is born here
  11. 1936BuiltGraham Gymnasium is built
  12. 1938Born herePaul Benedict is born here
  13. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1959Born hereLeslie Graves is born here
  15. 1973Born hereElisa Quintana is born here
  16. 1995In the archiveTrail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway - Red Paint PowWow
By decade

Silver City, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s3 items
Silver City Sanatorium ("American medical directory", 1906 advert)1906Silver City Sanatorium ("American medical directory",…New Mexico - Silver City through Zuni Buttes1917New Mexico - Silver City through Zuni ButtesNew Mexico - Silver City through Zuni Buttes1917New Mexico - Silver City through Zuni Buttes
1920s–1980snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1990s1 item
Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway - Red Paint PowWow1995Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway - Red Pain…
Today7 recent
Birdbill Dayflower NM 15- Cherry Creek & Signal Burn Silver City NM 2018-08-17 09-23-402018Birdbill Dayflower NM 15- Cherry Creek & Signal Burn …Beardlip Penstemon NM 15- Cherry Creek & Signal Burn Silver City NM 2018-08-17 09-19-242018Beardlip Penstemon NM 15- Cherry Creek & Signal Burn …The Awesome Barbacoa Tacos2014The Awesome Barbacoa TacosStoners Must Pay First2014Stoners Must Pay FirstGreetings from Silver City, New Mexico - Large Letter Postcard2010Greetings from Silver City, New Mexico - Large Letter…DocumentGreetings from Silver City, New Mexico - Large Letter Postcard2010Greetings from Silver City, New Mexico - Large Letter…DocumentGrant County New Mexico Court House2009Grant County New Mexico Court House
On the map

Silver City on the map, 1950 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Silver City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Silver City on the 1950 USGS mapSilver City on the 1992 USGS map1950Silver City sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Silver City.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Silver City Sanatorium ("American medical directory", 1906 advert)
Retake this viewSilver City Sanatorium ("American medical directory", 1906 advert), 1906

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Silver City’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Silver City, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 10,683

Between 1,800 and 10,683 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Silver City’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

12 famous people were born in Silver City

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Paul BenedictAmerican actor · b. 1938
Elisa QuintanaAmerican astronomer · b. 1973
James TenneyAmerican composer and music theorist · b. 1934
L
Leslie GravesAmerican actress · b. 1959
Karen ShepherdUnited States Congresswoman from Utah · b. 1940
Howie MoralesLieutenant Governor of New Mexico since 2019 · b. 1973
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Silver City’s post office has been open since 1871.

Gone or out of use
AtlanticmineConnecticut MinemineLuck Manganese MinemineTurner Ridgeport Airportairport
1cemetery inside Silver City
Memory Lane

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Little Walnut VillageIts storyDRosedaleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Silver City’s history

What year was Silver City founded?

In 1870, according to Wikidata. Silver City’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 1,800 people here.

How does Silver City rank for history?

Silver City is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #9 of 73 in New Mexico. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Silver City?

14 listings: 11 buildings, among them the H. B. Ailman House (listed 1975, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Silver City Historic District, the Chihuahua Hill Historic District and the Silver City Historic District North Addition, with 177 contributing buildings. 197 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Silver City?

15% of Silver City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1972.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (14), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.