Silver City Bookworks

Silver City Bookworks is part bookstore, part working letterpress studio, and part gathering place for the fiercely independent artistic community that has made Silver City one of New Mexico's most unexpected cultural destinations. The store occupies a former dry goods store on Broadway, its pressed-tin ceiling and wooden floors bearing the patina of over a century of use. In the back room, a beautifully maintained Vandercook letterpress produces limited-edition broadsides and chapbooks by regional poets and artists, which are sold alongside the store's general inventory of new and used books. The environmental writing section is particularly strong, reflecting Silver City's proximity to the Gila Wilderness, the nation's first designated wilderness area, and the passionate conservation ethic of the community. The rare books collection includes early accounts of Apache warfare, Billy the Kid narratives, and mining-era documents from Grant County's silver rush. Owner and master printer Sarah Thornton has built a space where the handmade and the literary intersect in ways that draw visitors from across the country.