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RoaringSprings3 (1 of 1)Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
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History · Roaring Springs

Roaring Springs’ post office opened in 1912, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1930.

1912first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Roaring Springs began

When was Roaring Springs founded?

1912

The Roaring Springs post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 405 in 19302020 census: 217114 years
Founding year: the first Roaring Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Roaring Springs’ 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 Roaring Springs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 514 in 1940; 217 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Roaring Springs’ homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Roaring Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roaring Springs’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

Roaring Springs, census by census

010020030040050019401960198020002020Peak: 514

Peaked at 514 in 1940; 217 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story so far

Roaring Springs, in brief

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

Roaring Springs is a town in Motley County, Texas, United States. The population was 217 at the 2020 census. Roaring Springs was originally an Indian campground. At the time of the recapture of Cynthia Ann Parker in Foard County, Roaring Springs was the main Comanche outpost. It was known for the purity of its water. In 1912, the community was laid out in the anticipation of service from the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway, operated by Samuel Lazarus (1855–1926). The name "Roaring Springs" was adopted in 1913, when the railroad initiated service. A brick depot was soon established at the end of Broadway Street and handled passenger and freight traffic until 1971. The next year the depot wa…

Its first post office opened in 1912. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 234 to 217 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Roaring Springs, 1912 to 1968

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912Post officeThe Roaring Springs post office opens
  3. 1939Born hereHoward D. Graves is born here
  4. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 514
  5. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Roaring Springs, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Roaring Springs spring bloom - panoramio (1)2016Roaring Springs spring bloom - panoramio (1)Roaring Springs Train Depot Wiki (1 of 1)2016Roaring Springs Train Depot Wiki (1 of 1)Windmill Cafe, Roaring Springs, TX IMG 15722011Windmill Cafe, Roaring Springs, TX IMG 1572Travelers Inn in Roaring Springs, TX IMG 15702011Travelers Inn in Roaring Springs, TX IMG 1570Thacker Jewelry, Roaring Springs, TX IMG 15692011Thacker Jewelry, Roaring Springs, TX IMG 1569First Baptist Church, Roaring Springs, TX IMG 15752011First Baptist Church, Roaring Springs, TX IMG 1575
On the map

Roaring Springs on the map, 1968 to 1981

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

Roaring Springs on the 1968 USGS mapRoaring Springs on the 1981 USGS map1968Roaring Springs 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 Roaring Springs.

Questions about Roaring Springs’ history

What year was Roaring Springs founded?

The Roaring Springs post office opened in 1912, 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 (6), 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) 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.