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History · Springer

Springer’s post office opened in 1879, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Mills House, the Cowan, R. H., Livery Stable and the Immanuel Lutheran Church. Its Register listings are the Mills House, the Cowan, R. H., Livery Stable and the Immanuel Lutheran Church. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1910.

1879first post office
3on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Springer’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Springer began

When was Springer founded?

1879

The Springer post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Dorsey (1879) and Dorsey (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 550 in 19102020 census: 931147 years
Founding year: the first Springer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Springer’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,657 in 1980; 931 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1890 to 1921, drew every building in Springer.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Springer.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Springer’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewATSF 309 (Flickr: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Springer, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,657

Peaked at 1,657 in 1980; 931 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Every building

Springer, building by building, 1890–1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Springer fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Springer came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Springer.

Read it all →

In 1877, William T Thornton, representing the Maxwell Land Grant and Railway Company commissioned Melvin Whitson Mills to "sell, locate, survey, map and plat, and lay out town site, no exceeding three hundred and twenty acres". Judge Mills selected a location along the Cimarron called Las Garzas and laid out the townsite and graded the streets. The Maxwell Land Grand and Railway Company conveyed the deed to Mills on March 31, 1880. The deed bequeathed the town Maxwell, but by 1883 according to the deed for the Mills Mansion, it was named Springer after two brothers: Charles Springer, a rancher near Cimarron and brother Frank, a lawyer and official of the Maxwell Land Grant Company.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Springer, 1877 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877BuiltMills House is built
  3. 1879Post officeThe Dorsey post office opens
  4. 1879Post officeThe Springer post office opens
  5. 1883BuiltCowan, R. H., Livery Stable is built
  6. 1886Post officeThe Dorsey post office closes
  7. 1889Post officeThe Dorsey post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1902Born hereAntonio M. Fernández is born here
  10. 1908Born hereFred Graham is born here
  11. 1912Post officeThe Dorsey post office closes
  12. 1936Born hereErnest Medina is born here
  13. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1967In the archiveATSF 309 (Flickr
  15. 1971Born hereJefferson Byrd is born here
  16. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,657
  17. 1983In the archiveATSF just west of Springer, New Mexico, near Colmor, April 1983
By decade

Springer, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s–1980s3 items
ATSF 309 (Flickr1967ATSF 309 (FlickrATSF just west of Springer, New Mexico, near Colmor, April 19831983ATSF just west of Springer, New Mexico, near Colmor, …ATSF just west of Springer, New Mexico, near Colmor, April 19831983ATSF just west of Springer, New Mexico, near Colmor, …
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
ATSF just west of Springer, New Mexico, near Colmor, April 1983Date?ATSF just west of Springer, New Mexico, near Colmor, …
Today7 recent
Cimarron River (Canadian River tributary)2026Cimarron River (Canadian River tributary)USA - New Mexico2023USA - New MexicoUSA - New Mexico2023USA - New MexicoUntitled photo2023Untitled photoTen Commandments monument in Springer, NM IMG 05442008Ten Commandments monument in Springer, NM IMG 0544Downtown Springer, NM IMG 05462008Downtown Springer, NM IMG 0546NMMap-doton-Springer2004NMMap-doton-Springer
On the map

Springer on the map, 1965 to 1981

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

Springer on the 1965 USGS mapSpringer on the 1981 USGS map1965Springer sheet · 1:24,000

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

ATSF 309 (Flickr
Retake this viewATSF 309 (Flickr, 1967

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Springer’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Springer

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Mills House
Mills House, built 1877Cowan, R. H., Livery Stable, built 1883Immanuel Lutheran Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

French Academic1
Greek Revival1
Mills HouseFrench Academic · Built 1877
Cowan, R. H., Livery StableBuilt 1883
Immanuel Lutheran ChurchBuilding

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Springer

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

See all →
Ernest MedinaUS Army officer · b. 1936
Fred GrahamAmerican actor · b. 1908
Antonio M. FernándezAmerican politician · b. 1902
J
Jefferson ByrdAmerican politician · b. 1971
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Springer’s post office has been open since 1879. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dorsey
1879–1886
Springer
1879–today
Dorsey
1889–1912
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Springer Pitmine

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

Questions about Springer’s history

What year was Springer founded?

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

What is on the National Register in Springer?

Three places: the Mills House (listed 1970), the Cowan, R. H., Livery Stable (1979) and the Immanuel Lutheran Church (2015).

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 (11), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.