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History · Cimarron

24% of Cimarron’s homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings.

2on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
3famous people
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What stands out about Cimarron’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cimarron are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cimarron’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cimarron’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Cimarron came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cimarron.

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Cimarron is located on the land of what became known as the 1,700,000 acres (6,900 km2) Maxwell Land Grant. In 1842, Lucien B. Maxwell, a fur trapper, came to the Beaubien-Miranda Ranch in northern New Mexico and courted and married Luz Beaubien, one of the owner's six daughters. He eventually inherited the ranch and built a mansion in 1858 on the future town site.

Maxwell built the Aztec Mill in 1864. It is preserved as the Old Mill Museum, operated by the Cimarron Historical Society. The museum's collection includes working mill parts; Native American tools, weapons and pottery; Maxwell Land Grant paperwork and documents; and other materials.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cimarron, 1874 to 1923

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Born hereAgnes Morley Cleaveland is born here
  3. 1876Born hereBill Morley is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1923Born hereFrank Olmstead is born here
By decade

Cimarron, decade by decade

Today6 recent
U.S. Highway 64 in Cimarron, NM Picture 20242008U.S. Highway 64 in Cimarron, NM Picture 2024The river running through2008The river running throughSanta Fe Trail sign IMG 05162008Santa Fe Trail sign IMG 0516Mountain road west of Cimarron, NM IMG 05392008Mountain road west of Cimarron, NM IMG 0539Cimarron-nm-map2007Cimarron-nm-mapMapNMMap-doton-Cimarron2004NMMap-doton-Cimarron
On the National Register

2 listings protect 8 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Cimmaron Historic District
Cimmaron Historic DistrictCimarron Mercantile
BuildingsDistricts
Cimmaron Historic DistrictDistrict
Cimarron MercantileBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Cimarron

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Agnes Morley CleavelandAmerican writer · b. 1874
Bill MorleyAmerican football player and coach · b. 1876
F
Frank OlmsteadAmerican politician · b. 1923

Questions about Cimarron’s history

What is on the National Register in Cimarron?

Two places: the Cimmaron Historic District (listed 1973) and the Cimarron Mercantile (2019).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.