WNMU professor examines how Silver City avoided becoming a ghost town
A new book chapter by WNMU history professor Scott Fritz examines how Silver City survived economic downturns that turned many nearby mining towns into ghost towns.
Research by historian Scott Fritz explores the businesses, institutions and economic forces that helped stabilize the mining town
Organ Mountain News report
SILVER CITY - Western New Mexico University history professor Scott Fritz has published new research examining how Silver City avoided the decline that transformed many nearby mining communities into ghost towns.
Fritz’s work appears in the book “Unpacking Silver City: Revealing the Rich Tapestry of a Historic Town,” which explores the history and development of the community.
According to WNMU, Fritz argues Silver City survived economic downturns in part because it developed around both mining and cattle industries rather than relying on a single commodity.
“Unlike towns like Georgetown or Gila, which relied on a single commodity, Silver City relied on two: mining and cattle,” Fritz said in a statement released by the university.
Fritz said the town also became a regional hub serving nearby mines and ranches through businesses including hardware stores, shipping companies and general stores.
The research highlights additional factors that helped stabilize the community, including Silver City becoming the Grant County seat in 1871, the arrival of the railroad in 1883 and the founding of the Territorial Normal School — now WNMU — in 1893.
“Indeed, from the beginning of the school’s existence, students brought money into the community,” Fritz said.
The research also focuses on local business leaders Fritz describes as “Merchants of Modernity,” including Elizabeth Warren, whom the university described as the first certified female insurance agent in the New Mexico Territory.
After her husband died in 1887, Warren operated an insurance and notary business serving miners and ranchers while also managing several other businesses, according to the university.
WNMU said Warren later co-founded a cement business after the city required cement sidewalks in 1906, and her name remains stamped in some older concrete sidewalks around Silver City.
Fritz’s research also examines the role of general stores and movie theaters as community gathering places where residents from different backgrounds interacted.
According to the university, Fritz used primary sources including student council minutes from the 1930s and local assessor records in his research.
The university said Fritz is advocating for additional digitization of local archives, including WNMU yearbooks dating back to 1901.
“Unpacking Silver City: Revealing the Rich Tapestry of a Historic Town,” edited by Bart Roselli, includes chapters from Fritz and WNMU professor Andrew Hernandez.
More information about WNMU academic programs is available at Western New Mexico University.
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