Most of Radium Springs was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Its Register listing is the Rio Grande Bridge at Radium Springs. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1941 on.
The Radium Springs post office opened in 1926, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Fort Selden (1866), Leasburgh (1866) and Fort Seldon (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,498100 years
How historic is Radium Springs?
D
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Radium Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Radium Springs’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Radium Springs is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Radium Springs’ overall grade.
New Mexico towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical New Mexico town has 2.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Radium Springs’ 5.2 sits above most of its state (69% of New Mexico towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Radium Springs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Radium Springs yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Radium Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Radium Springs had a population of 1,498. It is part of the Las Cruces Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1926. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,699 to 1,498 (-12%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Radium Springs, 1866 to 1941
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Radium Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1941Las Cruces 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 Radium Springs.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Radium Springs
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Radium Springs post office opened in 1926, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Radium Springs rank for history?
Radium Springs is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Radium Springs?
One place: the Rio Grande Bridge at Radium Springs (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Radium Springs?
0.0% of Radium Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 2.3% for a New Mexico town; the median home was built in 1994.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
Date?
2014
2009
