From its earliest days as a frontier outpost to its economic rise as a prosperous mining and ranching community with strong ties to a public university, Silver City has steadily attracted newcomers to its scenic setting in southwest New Mexico. With its historic downtown’s architecture reflecting the enduring legacies of those who came here to find their fortunes, this regional hub of commerce retains the broad streets, shaded sidewalks, and Victorian era residences characteristic of communities along the Rocky Mountains West that flourished when local economies benefited from abundant natural resources.
In more recent years, as the shifting tides of global commerce overtook the economic foundations of North American based extractive industries, Silver City’s population labored to adjust its skills and expectation to these forces of change. One of the most noticeable ways the community changed has been in the growing numbers of local residents whose lives and pursuits place them into the demographic niche of creative field professionals.
