Village Profile Home Page | About our Company | Sales Opportunities | Community eStore | vpmobile.us

Ruggedly Beautiful Heritage

Personality of place — it’s an elusive essence, more than the sum of a community’s parts, its people and its past, but reflecting all of these elements. Southwest New Mexico, with its varied and ruggedly beautiful landscape, echoes of vanished cultures, and a continuing, complex human heritage, has personality-plus. It is a richly textured living collage, with a uniqueness only found in rural areas that are historically multi-cultural.

Each historic layer — some scarred by conflict; others enhanced through collaboration — contributed something to the Grant County area of today. The region’s deep Hispanic and Native American roots are reflected in distinctive foods, architecture, family ties and community celebrations. The Southwest owes its ranching tradition to the Spanish, who introduced cattle to the New World. Westward expansion in New Mexico’s 19th century Territorial Period introduced soldiers, miners and settlers of many different backgrounds — bringing new perspectives, material goods and traditions. The early 20th century saw a new wave of influences from the eastern health seekers who sought relief from consumption (tuberculosis) in the area’s congenial climate.

The valley where Silver City is located was known as San Vicente at least as early as the 18th century, and a permanent Spanish or Mexican settlement would undoubtedly have been located here except for continuing Apache hostilities. When silver was discovered nearby in 1870, the town born at that time was christened Silver City, even though many old-timers in the region wanted to retain the traditional name of San Vicente. Over the years many descriptive slogans have been attached to Silver City: “The World’s Sanatorium,” “A Paradise for Consumptives,” “The Biggest Little City,” and even “Air Conditioned by Nature.” Whatever you may call it, the Silver City region seems to have held a special attraction for waves of discoverers.

Unlike the many Western frontier towns that have vanished into memory, Silver City was founded with the future in mind. Frustrated in its early efforts to establish local government and a public school system, Grant County threatened to defect to Arizona in 1876, prompting a profound change of heart in the Territorial legislature. As a result, Silver City is the oldest incorporated town in New Mexico (and the only one still operating under a Territorial charter), and it boasts the oldest public school system in the state. It is a town that was built to last. As a result, it is rich with surviving historic neighborhoods to tell the stories of its visionary founders.

Many fortunes have been made and lost in the boom-and-bust economy of Southwest New Mexico, but the region’s most consistent and valuable resource has been its people. Silver City was established on a foundation of volunteerism (its 1878 charter required all able-bodied men to donate two days’ labor each year to street maintenance). That rural character and spirit lives on in countless ongoing efforts, from hands-on park construction to youth athletics to literacy programs and arts events. Quality of life is a local product, continuing in the tradition of the early miners who pieced together the first silver-crushing mill and the local women who decided to establish a hospital.

Old-fashioned courtesies still prevail in Grant County. Strangers greet one another on the street, motorists pull to the side of the road when a funeral procession passes, and they yield to pedestrians. There is a general understanding that events don’t begin precisely at their scheduled times. Legal notices appear in both English and Spanish in the newspapers. Local celebrations (Fourth of July parades, fiestas, live performances, community-wide arts festivals, rodeos) are marked by hospitality and a large capacity for enjoyment. The self-reliance, stubbornness, neighborliness, orneriness, generosity and sturdiness associated with the Old West all combine to create a personality of place that is interesting, engaging and — most of all — real.