The Chihuahua Hill Story
Welcome to Chihuahua Hill
Perched on the southern edge of Silver City sits a neighborhood with a rich and often overlooked history. For nearly 155 years, Chihuahua Hill has been home to families, businesses, celebrations, struggles, and triumphs that have shaped our community.
The history of Chihuahua Hill offers more than just a backdrop to Silver City’s story. It provides essential context for understanding our shared heritage. While conventional historical accounts often focus on the “first Anglo settlement” narrative of Silver City’s founding in 1871, the voices and experiences of the Mexican American community that established Chihuahua Hill have frequently been left untold.
“Nuestra Voz: The Chihuahua Hill Story” changes that narrative. Through oral histories, photographs, and community memories, we explore the neighborhood’s evolution from its 19th-century origins to the present day. This project centers the perspectives of those who lived this history, creating a more complete picture of our community’s past and present.
About the Chihuahua Hill History Project
Launched in 2020, the Chihuahua Hill History Project set out to document, preserve, and make accessible to all the neighborhood’s cultural legacy. Through dozens of interviews conducted with current and former residents, museum staff have gathered stories that illuminate the neighborhood’s character, challenges, and contributions to Silver City.
Nearly every story shared in this project was told around a kitchen table—the heart of the home where friends and neighbors share what they have, trade stories, build memories, and pass on traditions.
As you explore this website, you’ll discover how Chihuahua Hill transformed from a collection of humble adobe and stone houses spread across a rocky hill to the vibrant community it is today. Through these stories, we gain insight into not just what has changed, but what has remained constant in the neighborhood’s identity.
We invite you to join us in exploring this important piece of Silver City’s heritage—a story of resilience, community, and cultural pride that continues to unfold.