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History · Tatum

Tatum’s post office opened in 1909, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1950.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: AllenS · Public domain
Quick answers

How Tatum began

When was Tatum founded?

1909

The Tatum post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 688 in 19502020 census: 706117 years
Founding year: the first Tatum post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Tatum’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 Tatum are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,168 in 1960; 706 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Tatum’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tatum’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tatum’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

Tatum, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001960198020002020Peak: 1,168

Peaked at 1,168 in 1960; 706 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

The story so far

Tatum, in brief

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

Tatum is a town in Lea County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Tatum had a population of 706.

Its first post office opened in 1909. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 798 to 706 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Tatum, 1909 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Tatum post office opens
  3. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,168
By decade

Tatum, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Tatum, New Mexico-042023Tatum, New Mexico-04Tatum, New Mexico-032023Tatum, New Mexico-03Tatum, New Mexico-022023Tatum, New Mexico-02Tatum, New Mexico-012023Tatum, New Mexico-01Tantum, colorado-052023Tantum, colorado-05Near Tatum - Flickr - aspidoscelis2015Near Tatum - Flickr - aspidoscelisTatum New Mexico Community Library2009Tatum New Mexico Community LibraryNMMap-doton-Tatum2004NMMap-doton-Tatum
On the map

Tatum on the map, 1954 to 1970

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

Tatum on the 1954 USGS mapTatum on the 1962 USGS mapTatum on the 1970 USGS map1954Brownfield 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 Tatum.

Famous people

Famous people close to Tatum

Nobody well known was born in Tatum itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
Jim FranklinActor · b. 1948
R
Ray BerryAmerican football player · b. 1963
R
Ronnie BlackProfessional golfer · b. 1958
T
Taymon DomzalskiAmerican basketball player · b. 1977
G
Gene LuskPolitician · b. 1920

Questions about Tatum’s history

What year was Tatum founded?

The Tatum post office opened in 1909, 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 (8), 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.