Silver City New Mexico Tourism

Following a silver strike, Captain Bullard laid out the streets of the 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 raiders less than a year later in 1871.

The town’s violent crime rate was substantial during the 1870s, 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 as William Bonney. Whitehill arrested him twice, both times for theft in Silver City, and would later claim that Bonney was a likeable kid, whose stealing was a result more of necessity than criminality. His mother is buried in the town cemetery.

Despite its small population, the town prides itself on its ability to bring in high quality cultural offerings, including the Grant County Community Concert Association, which presents numerous events each year.

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