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History · Maxwell

Maxwell’s post office opened in 1879, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1920.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Maxwell began, and where its name came from

When was Maxwell founded?

1879

The Maxwell post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 384 in 19202020 census: 224147 years

How did Maxwell get its name?

Maxwell was named in honor of Lucien Maxwell, who provided the land for the original townsite from his Maxwell Land Grant.

Founding year: the first Maxwell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What stands out about Maxwell’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 Maxwell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 483 in 1940; 224 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Maxwell’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Maxwell’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maxwell’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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People over time

Maxwell, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 483

Peaked at 483 in 1940; 224 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Maxwell, in brief

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

Maxwell is a village in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Maxwell had a population of 224. Maxwell was established in 1879 as a railroad town on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was named in honor of Lucien Maxwell, who provided the land for the original townsite from his Maxwell Land Grant.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 254 to 224 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Maxwell, 1879 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Maxwell post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Maxwell post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1909Post officeThe Maxwell post office opens
  6. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 483
By decade

Maxwell, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Maxwell, New Mexico2026Maxwell, New MexicoNMMap-doton-Maxwell2004NMMap-doton-Maxwell
On the map

Maxwell on the map, 1915 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Maxwell. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Maxwell on the 1915 USGS mapMaxwell on the 1971 USGS map1915Koehler sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Maxwell.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Maxwell had its own post office from 1879 to 1879.

Maxwell
1879–1879
Maxwell
1909–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Maxwell Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Maxwell’s history

What year was Maxwell founded?

The Maxwell post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.