Silver City: Western New Mexico University

Located in Silver City, the university offers bachelors degrees in a wide range of disciplines from art to technology. The presence of a university in Silver City means that the town will continue to grow and prosper.

Silver City: The Blue Dome Art Gallery, Karen Kessler painting of "Opuntia II"

Silver city is a town rich with art galleries, and was listed as an Art Town in a recent book. This painting is by Karen Kessler, and is shown in the Blue Dome Art Gallery in Silver City. Some of the other galleries are:

Azurite Gallery
www.zianet.com - (575) 538-9048

Blue Dome Gallery
www.bluedomegallery.com - (575) 534-8671
Ol West Gallery & Mercantile
575) 313-2595

Silver Spirit Gallery
www.silverspiritgallery.com - (575) 388-2079
Gallery 400
www.gilahouse.com - (575) 313-7015

Studio Space & Gallery
maps.google.com - (575) 534-9291

Tatiana Maria Gallery
maps.google.com - (575) 388-4426

This Week's Small Town: Silver City, New Mexico

With a population of just over 10,000, Silver City, New Mexico has become a mecca for the retired who want peace, natural beauty, a sense of history, and an assortment of things to do. Silver City has a full array of activities on their yearly calendar and also has interesting places to hike, walk, or educate yourself on the history of the old west.

Graham, Texas: video link tour of the town; Graham Library

For a video tour of Graham's recreation and social offerings, copy and paste this link into yur search line:  http://biz.grahamtexas.net/img/GrahamMovie_MPEG1_Medium.mpg

Graham Library has over 50,000 books, 95 magazines subscriptions, newspapers, and a bank of 20 internet connected computers for use by patrons. The Graham Library is an important center fot the town's citizens, with an attractive modern building and spaciousness inside. It is a place where time can be spent reading and researching for students and writers. The library also provides an online catalog of the resources available.

This Week's Town: Graham, Texas

Graham, Texas, has a population of about 8500, as of the July 2008 report. Founded by the Graham  brothers, owners of the Texas Emigration and Land Company of Kentucky, the area contained 125,000 acres in Young County. it was the site of a busy salt works which the brothers purchased prior to 1900. The brothers donated land, churches, and other structures to the town and it is still a viable town. In 1917 oil was found near Graham and the population began to expand somewhat with the influx of oil money. The Leader, the town newspaper, is still in circulation today from a first printing in 1876. The Leader is now available online. The town has a cotton mill, a saw mill, a brick kiln, hotels and several stores. It might be a great town in which to develop a new enterprise or to install a manufacturing plant for either industrial or technological products.
For information on business and development in Graham,  the Chamber of Commerce is the best place to begin an inquiry.

A city overview gives the following information on Graham:

As of 2009, Graham's population is 8,518 people. Since 2000, it has had a population growth of -0.29 percent.
The median home cost in Graham is $52,840. Home appreciation the last year has been 1.20 percent.
Compared to the rest of the country, Graham's cost of living is 26.70% Lower than the U.S. average.
Graham public schools spend $5,173 per student. The average school expenditure in the U.S. is $6,058. There are about 16 students per teacher in Graham.
The unemployment rate in Graham is 5.50 percent(U.S. avg. is 8.50%). Recent job growth is Positive. Graham jobs have Increased by 4.60 percent.

Located on the edge of the Palo Pinto Mountains, the largest peak is Twin Mountains, overlooking the town.
There have been several notable people come from Graham, such as Rex Brown, bass player for the band Pantera, and also Robert McFarlane, who served as National Security Advisor to President Reagan.

Small Towns: Under 50,000 population

Across America there are delightful small towns. The people say hello and offer a helping hand when someone needs it. Things like high speed freeway chases are never seen, the local diner is filled with neighbors at six in the morning, the local bank is not at risk for being taken over, and your home is indeed your castle. This website is dedicated to highlighting these towns. They deserve to be given credit for getting things right. Once a week I will feature a different town, and that town will have a post each day of that week. By the end of the week, you will know enough about the town to feel comfortable visiting there or heck, even living there if the spirit moves you.