{"id":6297,"date":"2023-07-25T10:56:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T10:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=6297"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:07:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:07:43","slug":"grant-county-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/grant-county-new-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Grant County, New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grant County is a county in New Mexico, United States, in the state’s southwest corner about
\n150 miles west-northwest of Las Cruces and 15 miles from the Arizona line. It had a population of
\n28,185 at the 2020 census, an estimated 27,252 by 2025, and covers 3,962 square miles (10,260 km2)
\nof land centred near 32°44′N 108°23′W.<\/p>\n

Silver City is the county seat and largest town; its postal code is 88061. The county holds 1
\ncity, 2 towns, 1 village and 22 census-designated places, plus 7 unincorporated communities, and
\nit runs on Mountain Time. Its FIPS code is 35017.<\/p>\n

Towns & Villages in Grant County<\/h2>\n

Grant County has 33 named places on record: 1 city, 2 towns, 1 village and 22 census-designated
\nplaces (CDPs) with their own population counts, plus 7 unincorporated communities with no
\nCensus Bureau population of their own. Grant County has no civil townships — New Mexico
\ncounties are not subdivided that way.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Place<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nPop.<\/th>\nZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Silver City<\/td>\nTown · seat<\/td>\n9,704<\/td>\n88061<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bayard<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n2,116<\/td>\n88023<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Santa Clara<\/td>\nVillage<\/td>\n1,637<\/td>\n88026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arenas Valley<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,291<\/td>\n88022<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hurley<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n1,256<\/td>\n88043<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tyrone<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n712<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cliff<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n284<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gila<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n285<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
North Hurley<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n242<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pinos Altos<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n225<\/td>\n88053<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hanover<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n144<\/td>\n88041<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hachita<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n52<\/td>\n88040<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mimbres<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n390<\/td>\n88049<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Buckhorn<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Casas Adobes<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cobre<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Faywood<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gila Hot Springs<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lake Roberts<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lake Roberts Heights<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Little Walnut Village<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Redrock<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rosedale<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Lorenzo<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Trout Valley<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
White Signal<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dwyer<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fort Bayard<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n88036<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mangas Springs<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mule Creek<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Riverside<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Separ<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sherman<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The old version of this page listed more than 50 names, including Big Mill, Brockman, Fierro,
\nMinero, Old Hachita, Pothook, Redstone, Silver Acres, Turnerville, Union Hill, Vanadium and
\nWimsattville. Those are historic mining camps and company-town sites tied to the district’s
\ncopper and gold booms, not places the Census Bureau currently recognises with a population count
\n— several sit inside or beside the modern Chino Mine pit and no longer exist as settlements.
\nThey are folded into the History section below rather than the table, so the list here reflects
\nonly places with a current, countable population.<\/p>\n

Geography<\/h2>\n

Grant County sits in New Mexico’s boot heel country, where the southern Rocky Mountains
\ngive way to the Basin and Range desert of the state’s bootheel. The Gila National Forest and
\nthe Mogollon and Pinos Altos mountain ranges cover the county’s northern half, holding the
\nGila Wilderness — designated in 1924, the first area in the world set aside as wilderness.
\nThe Gila River runs through the county’s northwest corner past the community of Gila, and
\nthe Mimbres River drains the southeastern mountains past Mimbres and San Lorenzo. Of the
\ncounty’s 3,968 square miles, 3,962 are land and 5.9 are water, under 0.2 percent, typical
\nfor the arid Southwest.<\/p>\n

Catron County borders Grant to the north, Sierra County to the east, Luna County to the
\nsoutheast, Hidalgo County to the south, and Greenlee County, Arizona, to the west. Catron County<\/a>, Sierra County<\/a> and Luna County<\/a> each have their own page on this
\nsite; Hidalgo County and Greenlee County, Arizona, do not.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/h2>\n

Grant County had a population of 28,185 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
\ncounty near 27,252 residents, a slow decline typical of New Mexico’s mining counties.
\nSilver City and Bayard are the two largest communities, together holding roughly 42 percent of
\nthe county’s population. Median household income runs about $44,958 (Data USA, 2024), well
\nbelow New Mexico’s statewide figure of $62,268 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to
\nroughly 7 people per square mile of land, among the lowest in the state outside its true
\nwilderness counties.<\/p>\n

Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\n

Educational services employ the most workers in the county, about 1,606 people, followed by
\nhealth care and social assistance at 1,482 and retail trade at 1,036. Western New Mexico
\nUniversity, based in Silver City, is the county’s largest single educational employer.
\nFreeport-McMoRan’s Chino Mine, an open-pit copper operation centred near Santa Rita and
\nHurley, remains the backbone of the local economy and the reason Bayard, Hurley and Santa Clara
\nexist as separate towns rather than Silver City neighborhoods. Gila Regional Medical Center in
\nSilver City serves as the county’s main hospital. The county’s biggest annual event is
\nthe Tour of the Gila, a UCI-sanctioned multi-day cycling stage race that starts in Silver City
\neach April or May and draws professional riders from across the Americas.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

The New Mexico Territorial Legislature organized Grant County on 1 January 1868, naming it for
\nUlysses S. Grant, then commanding general of the U.S. Army and future 18th president. Silver ore
\ndiscovered at Chloride Flat in 1870 founded Silver City, and the surrounding mountains had already
\ndrawn miners to Pinos Altos after an 1860 gold strike. The Apache Wars shaped the county’s
\nfirst decade: the Battle of Pinos Altos was fought there on 27 September 1861 between an Arizona
\nmilitia and Apache forces led by Mangas Coloradas and Cochise, and the Army built Fort Bayard in
\n1866 to garrison the district, staffing it in part with Buffalo Soldier regiments after the Civil
\nWar.<\/p>\n

Copper mining, not silver, became the county’s long-term industry. The Santa Rita del
\nCobre deposit, worked since Spanish colonial times, grew into the modern Chino Mine, and the
\ncompany towns of Hanover, Fierro, Vanadium and Santa Rita itself grew up around successive pits
\nand smelters through the 20th century — several were later absorbed or erased as the open
\npit expanded. Sheriff Harvey Whitehill arrested a young Henry Antrim, later known as Billy the
\nKid, in Silver City in 1875, one of the outlaw’s earliest recorded arrests. A flood on 21
\nJuly 1895 gouged out Silver City’s Main Street into what locals still call the Big Ditch.<\/p>\n

Getting There<\/h2>\n

US 180 crosses the county through Silver City, Santa Clara, Bayard and Hurley; NM 90, NM 15,
\nNM 152 and NM 35 branch off it toward the Gila Wilderness, Hanover and Mimbres. No interstate
\nhighway reaches Grant County.<\/p>\n