After the American Civil War, a settlement developed and became known as "La Ciénega de San Vicente" (the Oasis of St. Vincent).

The founding of the town occurred shortly after the discovery of silver ore deposits at Chloride Flat, on the hill just west of the farm of Captain John M. Bullard and his brother James.

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 less than a year later, on February 23, 1871.

However, Grant County Sheriff Harvey Whitehill was elected in 1874, and gained a sizable reputation for his abilities at controlling trouble.

[8] Mrs. Lettie B. Morrill, in a talk given to the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter in Silver City on September 19, 1908, stated, "John Bullard was placed in the first grave dug in Silver City, having been killed while punishing the Indians for an attack upon the new town; the brothers were prospectors about the country for many years.

Construction was limited to 5 miles (8.0 km) of grading[9] until Wisconsin-based Comanche Mining and Smelting purchased the railroad in 1903[10] after horse-drawn ore transport became uneconomical.

During the night of July 21, 1895, a heavy wall of water rushed through the downtown business district, leaving a trail of destruction.

Main Street now ends near the back of the Silver City Police Station, where the Big Ditch Park begins.

Mimbres archaeological sites are located throughout Silver City and surrounding communities on federal, state, municipal, and private property.

Collecting, and the looting, of Mimbres Mogollon sites did not stop with archaeological research conducted on private lands during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1970s, nor with the passage of the New Mexico "Burial Law" in 1989.

The Apaches occupied areas in the vicinity of Silver City beginning in the late 1500s to early 1600s, based on archaeological evidence.

[citation needed] Silver City is located near the center of Grant County, at the southern foot of the Pinos Altos Range of the Mogollon Mountains.

The town is 3 miles (5 km) east of the Continental Divide, in the valley of San Vicente Arroyo, a south-flowing tributary of the Mimbres River.

[citation needed] The climate of Silver City is classified as Csa (Mediterranean with hot summers and cool winters) in the Köppen system.

Silver City's climate is characterized by moderate rainfall in fall and winter (October to February, a dry spring (March to June), and rains from (July to September) in what is called the North American Monsoon.

[13] During the period from 1901 to 1964, when readings were taken at the city center (which is cooler and wetter than outlying and lower-elevation districts nearby), the coldest temperature recorded was −13 °F (−25 °C) on January 11, 1962, and the hottest 105 °F (40.6 °C) on July 5, 1901.

The most snow in one season was 48.0 inches or 1.22 metres between July 1912 and June 1913, which featured the coldest winter on record with 33.1 °F or 0.6 °C as the mean from December to February.

Note: Climatic data will vary slightly depending upon the period of time chosen to calculate average figures.

MRAC presents the Silver City Blues Festival each May and Pickamania—a Bluegrass, Americana, Folk and acoustic festival—each September, in addition to a number of other arts events throughout the year.

Grant County Community Concert Association presents numerous performance events each fall, winter, and spring.

[23] The first Southwest Festival of the Written Word was held in 2013, at multiple venues in historic downtown Silver City.

The District covers the Town of Silver City as well as Cliff, Pinos Altos, Tyrone, and White Signal.

Private schools include: Airports Major highways The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is about 44 miles (71 km) north of Silver City, via the winding NM 15.

The Kneeling Nun is a natural rock formation located about 20 miles (32 km) to the east of Silver City along NM 152.

The District was the location of Fort Bayard, which was established in 1866 to station soldiers of the US Army in proximity to mining camps in the region.

Silver City is mentioned in the 2007 film There Will Be Blood, whose screenplay was written by Paul Thomas Anderson and was based on the 1927 novel Oil!

[31] Upton Sinclair based his novel on the experiences of Edward L. Doheny, a prospector and oil tycoon living in the Silver City area (near Kingston).

In the 1956 film Backlash, Jim Slater, played by Richard Widmark, goes to Silver City with the body of the deputy sheriff he killed.

In the 2010 road trip movie Friendship!, the two friends Veit and Tom are stopped and arrested by Silver City police because of driving naked.

Silver City is also mentioned in several episodes in the highly rated ABC series The Rifleman (1958–1963) starring Chuck Connors in the title role.