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Newkirk SignPhoto: JBAkin · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Newkirk

Newkirk’s post office opened in 1910

Below: maps from 1954 on.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: JBAkin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Newkirk began

When was Newkirk founded?

1910

The Newkirk post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Conant (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 8116 years
Founding year: the first Newkirk post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Newkirk’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 Newkirk are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Newkirk’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Newkirk’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 Newkirk came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Newkirk.

Read it all →

Newkirk was originally called Conant; it was founded in the early 20th century along Route 66. In the 1930s, Newkirk had several restaurants, cabins, four gas stations, as well as De Baca's Trading Post. It is now considered a ghost town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Newkirk, 1902 to 1954

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Conant post office opens
  3. 1910Post officeThe Conant post office closes
  4. 1910Post officeThe Newkirk post office opens
  5. 1931Born hereDonald M. Babers is born here
  6. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Newkirk, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Newkirk Sign2021Newkirk SignRoute 66 at Newkirk NM from W 12015Route 66 at Newkirk NM from W 1Newkirk, New Mexico from NW 12015Newkirk, New Mexico from NW 1Building S side Route 66 Newkirk NM 12015Building S side Route 66 Newkirk NM 1Rt66newkirk2006Rt66newkirk
On the map

Newkirk on the map, 1954 to 1964

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

Newkirk on the 1954 USGS mapNewkirk on the 1964 USGS map1954Santa Fe sheet · 1:250,000

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Newkirk’s post office has been open since 1910. Another post office, Conant, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Conant
1902–1910
Newkirk
1910–today
19001960today
1cemetery inside Newkirk
Newkirk

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

Questions about Newkirk’s history

What year was Newkirk founded?

The Newkirk post office opened in 1910, 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 →
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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 (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.