Silver City, in town

Silver City is the Grant County seat and the largest town in southwest New Mexico, at about 6,000 feet in the foothills of the Pinos Altos Range. It began as a silver camp in 1870 and kept its Victorian-era downtown: brick storefronts along Bullard Street, the Big Ditch park where Main Street once ran, and blocks of early-1900s houses on the hills on either side.

Homes inside the city limits range from those historic houses near downtown, through the mid-century neighborhoods around Western New Mexico University, to newer subdivisions on the town’s edges. Lots in the older districts are small and the streets are walkable; the newer areas trade that for views and garages.

The university, the hospital and the Gila National Forest, which starts at the north edge of town, shape daily life here. Downtown’s galleries, restaurants and the Saturday farmers’ market are a short walk for much of the town.