Qualla: Bullard Hotel

Bullard Hotel: Introduction

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Thebullard1916, CC BY-SA 4.0. Three of Silver City's grand hotels were destroyed by floods. The Broadway lost pieces to the first heavy flooding in 1895. The Tremont House vanished in 1899. The Timmer House fell in 1904. When the Bullard Hotel opened its doors in March 1916, it arrived as the last standing monument to a town that kept betting on growth even as flash floods carved away its Main Street. Today, it remains the only surviving hotel from Silver City's final economic boom, a brick testament to optimism that World War I would soon render obsolete.

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Image: Thebullard1916 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Bullard Hotel: Steam Heat and Running Water

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Plazak, CC BY-SA 3.0. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Ward, successful grocery merchants from Illinois, announced the Bullard Hotel as Silver City's most modern accommodation. Every room featured steam heat and hot and cold running water, luxuries that marked the hotel as forward-thinking in 1916. Mrs. Ward he...

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Image: Plazak | CC BY-SA 3.0

Bullard Hotel: The Silver City That John Bullard Found

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Plazak, CC BY-SA 3.0. The hotel's namesake, John Bullard, recognized something familiar in the rocky outcroppings near a summer camp called San Vicente Cienega. He had seen similar formations at Ralston, fifty miles southwest, where silver had been discovered. His hunch proved correct. By 1870, hopefu...

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Image: Plazak | CC BY-SA 3.0

Bullard Hotel: The Healthseekers

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Plazak, CC BY-SA 3.0. Silver City's transformation from mining town to health resort began in the 1890s when doctors discovered what tuberculosis patients already suspected: the high altitude and dry climate proved curative. St. Joseph's Sanatorium opened in 1902, a substantial brick building that sig...

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Image: Plazak | CC BY-SA 3.0

Bullard Hotel: The Floods That Reshaped Downtown

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Plazak, CC BY-SA 3.0. Main Street once ran through the heart of Silver City along the San Vicente Arroyo. Then came the floods. The first heavy flooding in 1895 carried away pieces of the Broadway Hotel. Four years later, the Tremont House was destroyed entirely. Flash floods returned in 1902 and cont...

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Image: Plazak | CC BY-SA 3.0

Bullard Hotel: Optimism's Last Monument

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. The Bullard Hotel was built when Silver City believed its best years lay ahead. The town paved streets, installed a storm sewer, and modernized buildings throughout the downtown. Plate glass replaced multiple-lite windows in storefronts. Adobe homes received fashionable new gable...

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain