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History · Lake Arthur

Lake Arthur’s post office opened in 1904, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Lake Arthur was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the Ozark Trails Marker at Lake Arthur. Below: the census since 1910.

1904first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lake Arthur began

When was Lake Arthur founded?

1904

The Lake Arthur post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 344 in 19102020 census: 378122 years
Founding year: the first Lake Arthur post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lake Arthur’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 Lake Arthur are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1910 and 1920, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Arthur’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Lake Arthur, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020344 in 1910Low: 141

Lost half of its people between 1910 and 1920, then more than doubled.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Arthur’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Lake Arthur, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lake Arthur yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lake Arthur is a town in Chaves County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 378 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1904. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 436 to 378 (-13%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Lake Arthur, 1904 to 2010

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Lake Arthur post office opens
  3. 1921BuiltOzark Trails Marker at Lake Arthur is built
  4. 1979Born hereAngelica Rubio is born here
  5. 21st century
  6. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 436
By decade

Lake Arthur, decade by decade

Today1 recent
NMMap-doton-LakeArthur2004NMMap-doton-LakeArthur
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lake Arthur

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2004
Ozark Trails Marker at Lake Arthur
Ozark Trails Marker at Lake Arthur, built 1921
Objects
Ozark Trails Marker at Lake ArthurBuilt 1921

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

Questions about Lake Arthur’s history

What year was Lake Arthur founded?

The Lake Arthur post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Lake Arthur?

One place: the Ozark Trails Marker at Lake Arthur (listed 2004).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.